
Book._ 



» 



Copyright)) . 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



AMERICAN 
PLAYGROUNDS 

Their Construction, Equipment, 
Maintenance and Utility 



A Compilation of Serviceable Information Con- 
cerning What Has Been and What Should Be 
Done to Provide Suitable Recreation and Ra- 
tional Physical Training by Approved Modern 
Methods for the Benefit of the People. 

A Practical Manual for Supervisors, Instructors, 
Committees and Others Desiring Knowledge of 
How and What to Do. 



Edited by EVERETT B. MERO 



With special contributions and extracts from writings of 

JOSEPH LEE LUTHER H. GULICK WILLIAM L. COOP 

E. B. DeGROOT HENRY S. CURTIS ARTHUR LELAND 

WM. A. STECHER MYRON T. SCUDDER E. H. ARNOLD 

GEORGE WITTICH ROBERT J. ROBERTS DUDLEY A. SARGENT 

and other authorities 



Selling Agents 

AMERICAN GYMNASIA CO. 

Boston, Mass. 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

OCT 23 1908 

Copyright tntr> ■ 

CUSS H O- XJC. No. 
COPY B. 



^i* 




COPYRIGHT, 1908 

by 

EVERETT B. MERO 



All rights are reserved, but correspondence is invited 
regarding reproduction of any desired extracts from 
the book. Permission wffl be freely granted for any 
use that will help the caruse 'of playgrounds or phys- 
ical training. Address such correspondence to the 
editor, in care of the publishers. 



CONTENTS 

Preface 8 

Acknowledgments 1 1 

PART ONE— How and Why to Provide for General Exer- 
cise and Recreation. 

Chapter I— What is Suitable Provision for Public 

Physical Welfare ? 15 

II — What Does a .Playground Include? .... 23 
III — Why Have Playgrounds at Public Ex- 
pense? '.'. . •.,. . . . 33 

IV — Trained Supervision and Guidance .... 39 
V — Instructors : Sources, Requirements, 

Salaries 45 

VI-rr= School Yard Playground Requirements. 50 

PART TWO — Organization, Construction and Equipment. 

VII — Importance of Proper Equipment 56 

VIII — Apparatus for the Playground and Out- 
door Gymnasium 60 

IX — A Recreation Center for a Town — By 

William L. Coop 69 

X — Playgrounds in Waste Places 74 

XI — Details of Playground Organization, 
Construction and Equipment — By 
Arthur Leland 79 

PART THREE— Special Points for Supervisors and In- 
structors. 

XII — Personal Hints to Supervisors — By Ar- 
thur Leland 92 

XIII — The Matter of Discipline 95 

XIV — Suggestions to Instructors in Municipal 
Playgrounds and Gymnasiums — By 
E. B. DeGroot 98 

XV — Suggestions to Instructors in General — 

By Jay W. Seaver, M. D 106 

XVI — Making Children Generally Useful ....108 

5 



XVII — Playground Programs and Methods ...112 
Section Two — How to Begin and Con- 
tinue Systematic Work — By Miss 
Gladys Abbott 118 

PART FOUR— Games and Exercises for Children and 

Grown-ups. 

XVIII^- Simple Marching and Running 126 

XIX — Exercises on Outdoor Apparatus 131 

XX — Athletics and Athletic Games 139 

XXI — Other Games Adapted to Playground 
Use. 

Section One — Team or Organized 
Games 153 

Section Two — Games with Temporary 
Sides or Teams 163 

Section Three — Progression in School 
Games — By Wm. A. Stecher and 

George Wittich 166 

Grading of Games 169 

Combative and Competitive Features. 171 

XXII — Interesting the Big Brothers, Fathers 

and Uncles 173 

XXIII — Sand Gardens for the Little Children . . . 180 

XXIV — Dancing in the Open Air 184 

Section Two — Folk Dances : Ameri- 
can and European — By A. J. Sheafe 194 
XXV — Swimming, Wading and Water Sports. 200 

XXVI — Pyramids and Tumbling 204 

XXVII — School Gardens 207 

PART FIVE— The Chicago Method in Action. 

XXVIII— The South Park System— By H. S. Cur- 
tis and E. B. DeGroot 212 



PART SIX — Miscellaneous Information. 

XXIX — Country and Village Organized Recrea- 
tion — By Myron T. Scudder 222 

XXX— * Games for Country Use — By Myron T. 

Scudder 226 

XXXI — How to Inaugurate a Local Movement 
— By Joseph Lee and Lee F. Han- 
mer 233 

6 



XXXII— Three Age Periods of Child Play— By 

Joseph Lee 237 

XXXIII — History of Playgrounds with a Chro- 
nology 239 

XXXIV — Social Conditions in the Playground — 

By Henry S. Curtis, Ph.D 253 



Quotations and Extracts : 

Place of Play in a Democracy — By Luther H. Gulick, M.D. 258 
Play and Dancing for Adolescents — By G. Stanley Hall, 
Ph.D 259 

What is Dancing? — By Melvin B. Gilbert 260 

A Boy Learns Citizenship in Group Games — By Joseph 
Lee 264 

Playgrounds and the Physical Training Profession 264 

Beginnings of Social Movements — By R. W. DeForrest . .263 

Recreation for Girls in Cities — By Jane Addams 260 

Playground and Kindergarten Methods — By Frank E. 
Parlin 261 

Educational Value of Right Games and Right Supervision 
— By Dudley A. Sargent .262 

Grown-up Folks Need the Play Spirit — By J. J. Kelso . . . .265 

Early Efforts at Amherst College — By Paul C. Phillips . . .266 

State Extension Plan \ . . . 267 

A List of Available Books 268 



PREFACE. 

A book of practical information is not a short cut to suc- 
cess, a labor saving device to enable a reader to dispense with 
purposeful thinking. A book of this type is an aid to more 
systematic work by showing guide posts by which a reader 
may be better able to know which roads to use and which to 
avoid to reach a certain destination. 

This particular book is not about play and games ab- 
stractly or theoretically, so much as it is a book of service. 
Neither is it a literary production. It is definitely a compil- 
ation of information on how to apply practically various 
methods of physical training and recreation to men and 
women, boys and girls, in outdoor gymnasiums, playgrounds 
and school yards, under everyday American conditions. 

Considerable has been well written in permanent and 
temporary forms on the history, philosophy and psychology 
of play ; there has been much written on the desirability of 
games and recreation with special application to the relation 
of such activities to our social, moral and educational life. 
But there is very little available on the practical, technical 
side, and not much that shows how and where to provide the 
necessary additions to our lives. 

Theory and practice need to go hand in hand as soon as 
the ideas first advanced have had general recognition as facts ,* 
perhaps sooner. Those who have done the pioneer work 
have made possible the advanced efforts of today ; have made 
necessary such a book as this, which, being a pioneer in its 
class, is perhaps subject to some shortcomings. Such as ap- 
pear may be removed in subsequent editions. The editor 
will be pleased to receive criticisms and suggestions from any 
source. 



Those who have a general or philanthropic or sociologi- 
cal or educational or any other interest in the possibilities of 

8 



playgrounds should know something of their practical aspects. 
Those who are to teach the children and older folks by per- 
sonal contact must have technical knowledge unless their 
efforts are to fail or do positive harm. The managing com- 
mittees and board members, the municipal officials and the 
auxiliary society members, should have some of it also, if foi- 
no other reason than that the problems sure to arise may be 
intelligently understood and dealt with wisely. We should 
all learn from the combined experience of those who have 
traveled along the road just ahead. 

This book is intended to supply the needs mentioned as 
well as to give a somewhat comprehensive general idea of 
the meaning and scope of these efforts for the welfare of the 
people, — not only the physical welfare but the social, educa- 
tional and ethical as well. And, let us add, the business or 
commercial also. 

The commercial value of rational physical training, of 
proper recreation and play has not been much dwelt upon ; 
but this is a very important point in America where we all 
come to think so generally and constantly in terms of dollars ; 
to apply the rule and plumb to every new suggestion. The 
playground movement in its pure form will stand all such 
tests that are applied fairly. 



No book, or instruction in any form, can make it unnec- 
essary for a teacher to work for success, use common sense 
in applying knowledge to conditions, and take exceptions to 
rules laid down, whenever necessary. This applies to this 
book, to any other book and to all books written or to be 
written. Book knowledge — rules of procedure — programs of 
exercise — methods of administration — are excellent tools. 
Tools are made to use to produce results when combined with 
brain product, and satisfactory results come not otherwise. 
But books of the right sort can help, and will surely help, 
if rightly used. This book aims to present some gathered 
material to meet the needs of the day; to serve present pur- 
poses under conditions that have been outlined ; to be of real 
use. 



Concerning the now quite general recognition of the 
need and importance of play and games, nothing special is 
said here. This information and worthy consideration of it 
can be obtained from several sources. A list of titles is 
printed at the end of the volume. 



Specific acknowledgement of assistance given by individ- 
uals and organizations in the preparation of this book is 
made elsewhere. There has been an interesting exhibition of 
a desire to lend all aid asked for that would assist in extend- 
ing the playground movement. For this the editor is person- 
ally grateful, not so much for his own sake as because it en- 
ables a more serviceable publication to be offered to the pub- 
lic. It is a pleasure to do work when there is cordial co-op- 
eration such as has been experienced in the compilation of 
the following material. That "American Playgrounds," may 
be of definite service in extending the work it outlines, is the 
wish of 

THE EDITOR. 
July, 1908. 



10 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 

A book of this character is necessarily prepared with 
considerable assistance. No one person could make it of so 
much general and specific value as is possible by combining 
selected wisdom from many minds and experiences. The ed- 
itor is especially indebted to the sources mentioned here as 
well as to those who have given permission to republish ex- 
tracts, which are credited in each case where such reprints 
are made. Aside from these aids, special thanks are due and 
are hereby extended by the editor in his own behalf and for 
those who may be benefited by the result as set forth in these 
pages, to — 

To Mr. Joseph Lee, the oft-styled "father of American 
playgrounds" in their present modern form, for permission to 
make use of his many writings on the subject, and for reading 
the manuscript in advance of publication and making sug- 
gestions thereon ; and for other valuable assistance. 

To Mr. William L. Coop, for his willingness to give time 
and thought to matters concerning equipment and its prac- 
tical use, and help in various ways which have been of par- 
ticular value. 

To Mr. William A. Stecher, editor of "Mind and Body" 
and supervisor of physical education in Philadelphia public 
schools, for valuable information. 

To Mr. Edward B. De Groot, director of gymnastics, ath- 
letics and playgrounds in the Chicago South Park System, 
for material aid in several ways. 

The Playground Association of America, especially Dr. 
Luther H. Gulick, its president, and Miss Grace E. J. Parker, 
its financial secretary, for information and material for illus- 
trations. 

To the Narragansett Machine Co.; the Children's Play- 
ground League, Rochester, N. Y. (W. J. Smith, treasurer) ; 
the South Park Commissioners, Chicago; the Special Park 

II 



Commission, Chicago (A. W. O'Neill, secretary) ; the Play- 
ground Commission, Los Angeles, Cal. (Bessie D. Stoddart, 
secretary) ; special thanks are due for material for illustrations. 

A considerable number of the drawings for apparatus 
exercises in Chapter ly are adapted from Puritz' "Code Book 
of Gymnastic Exercises," English edition. 

Among the books and periodicals of which more or less 
use has been made for consultation or for extracts are : "Mind 
and Body," "American Gymnasia," "Playgrounds" ; 

"How to Tumble," Butterworth; "New Games and 
Sports," Alexander; "Playground Games," Chesterton; "May- 
pole Possibilities," Lincoln ; "Popular Gymnastics," Betz ; 

Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, 
1903 ; reports of various local playground associations and 
committees. 



12 



PART ONE 

Why and How to Provide for General Exercise 
and Recreation. 



13 



"Play is motor poetry." — G. Stanley Hall. 

"Schooling that lacks recreation favors dulness 
—Hall. 

"One former is worth one hundred reformers." — 
Horace Mann. 

"Men grow old because they stop playing, and 
not conversely, for play is, at bottom, growth." — 
Hall. 

"The plays of adolescence are socialistic, demand- 
ing the heathen virtues of courage, endurance, self- 
control, bravery, loyalty, enthusiasm." — Gulick. 

The good old swing of the rhyme writers, in the 
shade of the old apple tree, was transferred from 
the country farm yard to the town back yard, then 
to the city porch, then it assumed the artificial imita- 
tion form of the wooden swing of slats and paint, 
and next there was no swing; there was no room 
for it in the then current type of city civilization. 
Now the playgrounds are bringing back the really 
acceptable forms of the original swing — just a rope 
and a board across the bottom. 



14 



CHAPTER I. 

WHAT IS SUITABLE PROVISION FOR PUBLIC 
PHYSICAL WELFARE? 

A Summary — Definite Attention to Physical' 
Needs of Up-growing Generations — A Phase of 
Civic Betterment — Supervised Play One Means — 
Indoor Gymnasiums and Other Aids Needed. 

A fundamental feature of every normal human life being 
its physical condition, intelligent provision of means to main- 
tain and improve that condition needs no apology. 

Suitable provision for public physical welfare is found 
scarcely anywhere in American cities or country districts, 
except where it has been artificially made during the past 
thirty years and less. 

That this made-to-order method has been necessary is 
due to conditions of today's mode of living. We live largely 
in artificial surroundings day and night, in most cities. The 
same conditions are fast coming to the smaller towns with 
the advance of modern labor-saving devices. 

Our short cuts to what we hope will be success in ma- 
terial things are also short cuts to physical deterioration ; and 
to moral and mental non-training as well. 

What little has been done so far to restore certain nec- 
essary physical activities and interests to our abnormal lives, 
and to the lives of children for the next generations, is but 
a beginning, but one phase, of the work going on in many 
ways and through many agencies to bring back a more nor- 
mal mode of every-day existence. Physical welfare is not 
divorced from general welfare ; the physical is not the whole ; 
it is one part, but a part so important that its neglect is a 
crime even if not always so recognized. 

15 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

We of today must do something for the benefit of those 
who will live here sixty years and more from now as well as 
for our own good. This generation and the one immediately 
preceding it have been living more and more on the energy 
stored up by grandfathers and great-grandfathers — and 
mothers. (We must not forget the mothers, past, present and 
to be.) Unless we look out for our own physical selves, and 
especially ensure that the children of today do so, our grand- 
children and great-grandchildren are going to be physically 
bankrupt. 

If we spend all the money we are fortunate enough to 
inherit from ancestors, certainly we can have none of it 
to benefit our descendants. Just as true it is regarding in- 
heritance of muscular and nervous capital — physical efficiency. 

The people provide mental education for their children ; 
they should provide motor education quite as freely and 
universally. "Muscular knowledge was fundamental in the 
race, and it is the basis of all true learning in the individual." 

Proper motor education gives to every individual boy 
and girl ample opportunity for muscular exercise by syste- 
matic methods for recreation through play and games, and for 
true development through these agencies of "health as well 
as the physical, social and moral well being." 

To enable the desirable work to be practically carried 
on, several methods have been found suitable. First among 
the artificial modes of physical activities is gymnastics, which 
came by importation to Germany and other European coun- 
tries from Greece and Rome, and thence to America. In this 
country the freer life and thought eventually made for a freer 
mode of excercise, in athletics and also the games. During 
the past twenty years, and especially during the past ten 
years, has come what is generally called the playground 
movement. Really this is an important phase of the larger 
movement to make more use of natural outdoor possibilities 
for sane living, as is pointed out elsewhere in this chapter. 

In Chapter II it is shown that "suitable provision for 
public physical welfare" calls for several features harmoni- 
ously coordinated and systematically supervised. This book 
deals specifically with the playgrounds and their allied fea- 
tures. 

16 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

As playground activities in their modern aspects are 
comparatively new to America, and not very old anywhere, 
it is only just now that we are getting the necessary attention 
to the subject. Thanks to the activity and persistent propa- 
ganda of local and national societies and individuals in past 
years, and thanks during the past two years to organized 
national efforts of the Playground Association of America, 
the attention of authorities of cities and states and of the 
nation is being guided to the central fact that Twentieth Cen- 
tury conditions make not only desirable but absolutely neces- 
sary some definite attention to the physical needs of the up- 
growing generations of both sexes. 

The playground movement is one of the desirable ways 
through which this demand can be met. Playgrounds, mean- 
ing places for children to play, and for older folks to rest, walk 
and ride, as well as play, were comparatively numerous in 
some cities two decades ago and more, But just a place, just 
a lot of land open to public use, will not answer the require- 
ments. Experience has taught this and re-taught it. There 
is play and there is play. There is play that grows like a 
weed and never gets beyond the weed state ; and there is 
play that has careful cultivation so that it becomes a useful 
plant. The latter kind is required to accomplish results 
worthy of efforts expended. This is the kind that all wise 
investigators and expert students contend for, as soon as 
they get far enough into the subject to truly appreciate 
practical conditions. 

Directed or supervised play is necessary. This means 
somebody whose definite duty it is to direct and supervise. 
Following the trail we quickly see that directors and super- 
visors must be trained. Until almost the present day there 
have been no accessible means for such special education, 
beyond the incomplete possibilities of the school of experi- 
ence. Now we have two or three normal and training schools 
of physical education paying particular attention to the sub- 
ject and two or three local organizations conducting their 
own instruction classes. We have not yet reached the point, 
as they have in Germany, of special normal play schools for 
teachers ; but as most of the inspiration for what is being 
done for playgrounds in America came from Germany, di- 

17 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

rectly or indirectly, it may not be long before this fundament- 
ally important part of the work is inaugurated here, in some 
form. 

It was just stated that playgrounds offer one way of car- 
ing for the physical needs of men and women, grown up and 
growing up. Playgrounds, even the best of them, seldom do 
much in winter except to provide skating and possibly sliding 
and tobogganing, in a large section of the country, and not 
very much anywhere in stormy weather. This means that 
there must be serviceable shelter and some provision for in- 
door work. A playground building is as important, certaintly, 
as an open-air space. It is a question not entirely settled 
which should come first, the building or the outdoor space. 
Both should go together, that is certain, but if there abso- 
lutely cannot be more than one, which shall it be? This is a 
point calling for more consideration than can be given here, 
but it is worth noting in passing. 

The outdoor playground with proper space for athletics 
as well as gymnastics and games, supplemented by a well- 
equipped building which includes a gymnasium as well as 
baths, lockers, etc., and a swimming pool in some form, may 
make a complete plant. About the only place in America at 
this writing where this ideal has been reached is in the South 
Park System of Chicago. It is now being extended to other 
places as opportunity offers. Elsewhere the idea is adopted 
in part and incompletely. In many cities it is the ideal in 
mind, but in Chicago by reason of exceptional conditions 
the whole plan outlined and other desirable features as well 
are daily working as a model for the rest of the country, and 
in many respects for all the world. As one observer has ex- 
pressed it, this city has been able to skip over ten to fifteen 
years of growth and produce the complete system immedi- 
ately. 

Boston, where the present playground and outdoor gym- 
nasium scheme first took tangible form in this country, about 
twenty years ago, has not kept up to the times in some re- 
spects, although always one of the leading cities of the country 
in all matters of physical training, health education and recre- 
ation, as well as social betterment. Chicago took Boston's idea 
and showed its real possibilities under American city condi- 

18 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

tions. Boston has just (1908) provided for a comprehensive 
system of physical training under control of the public school 
committee which includes playgrounds heretofore conducted 
by the park department and by private philanthropy, as well 
as gymnastics and athletics. 

Part of a General Modern Tendency. 

The growth of the playground movement should have a 
direct interest for the increasing thousands and millions of 
people who are personally concerned with matters of subur- 
ban life, life in the open, getting back to nature, and so on. All 
this line of effort has a common end : the making of life more 
worth living under conditions that exist; the improving of 
conditions so that instead of trying to escape from steel fetters 
of present civilization we may willing remain in the embrace 
of velvet supports and guides. However divergent the vari- 
ous movements toward this ideal, however crude some of the 
methods, however imperfect some of the individual workers 
and dreamers may be, the end sought is worth striving for. 

The playground movement is just as much a part of the 
general tendency of modern people to escape from the armor 
of city discordancies as is the development of suburban es- 
tates, city beautification, clean streets, removal of eye sores in 
city and country, and all the other elements that tend to make 
for practical aesthetic environments. 

As these paragraphs are being written there is in the 
United States a representative of a French association whose 
purpose is to create an international organization to work 
along these lines. In the United States at the present time 
are several organizations of comprehensive nature doing the 
same thing. Among them are the American Civic Associa- 
tion, Massachusetts Civic League, Rhode Island League of 
Improvement Societies, and many more that are local and 
sectional in scope. 

All these interests should be tied up with the playgroud 
movement, and it with them, so that playgrounds and all the 
means for open-air enjoyment, recreation and definite exer- 
cise might be admittedly a part of the broader purpose. 
Playgrounds are not a means in themselves, apart from other 
interests, but are just one expression of the underlying truth 

19 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

that has been a long time coming to be believed by Ameri- 
cans, — that men and women are created to enjoy life, not to 
be slaves to their surroundings all the time ; and to enjoy life 
good health and physical efficiency is a fundamental need. 
Hence the use of playgrounds, athletic fields, gymnasiums 
and open-air recreation facilities. 

As playgrounds are likely to be always parts of the 
general scheme for civic betterment — to make better the 
appearance and living conditions of towns and cities — it is 
important that there be "comprehensive planning and clear 
thinking; a careful study of actual conditions, physical, 
economic and social, based upon the best expert advice ob- 
tainable." The tendency to make playgrounds educational 
adjuncts or fundamentals observed in some places is not 
likely to prevent the same or other playgrounds being classed 
with the serviceable parks in the city systems. 

Growth of the Movement. 

An idea of the growth and scope of the playground move- 
ment may be had from these general facts of recent origin, 
covering some phases of development in America : 

The amount of money spent and appropriated for play- 
grounds and accompanying features during six months end- 
ing May, 1908, was estimated at $6,000,000. 

In the ten years ending 1908, covering practically all the 
present period of rapid development, about $50,000,000 has 
been used in the same way. Included in this sum is over 
$11,000,000 applied to the equipment and general conduct of 
Chicago recreation centers, $750,000 for San Francisco 
recreation centers, and $15,000,000 for New York City 
athletic fields, playgrounds, etc. These figures are not exact 
but approximately so. They are quoted to figuratively in- 
dicate the size of the work going on. 

New York City employs over 1000 teachers in various 
forms of summer playground and recreation center work. 

In 24 cities in 1905 there were 87 playgrounds ; in 1907 
in the same cities there were 169, an increase of 94 per cent, 
in two years. In the same cities in 1905 there were 73 park 
and municipal playgrounds ; in 1907 there were 108, an in- 
crease of 48 per cent, in two years. In 1905 there were 160 
playgrounds of all kinds ; in 1907 there were 247, an increase. 

20 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

of 54 per cent, in two years. These figures do not represent 
all the playgrounds in the country, but those in 24 cities from 
which statistics were gathered, 

During the years 1906-8 more than a dozen cities in 
which playgrounds had been previously maintained by private 
philanthropy, made appropriations for their conduct or 
created departments for direct municipal control and admin- 
istration. This is evidence of growing recognition of the real 
need and value of such features of public utility. Over 65 
cities now conduct playgrounds. 

There have been isolated instances of reduced appro- 
priations just as appropriations are occasionally unreasonably 
reduced for public education, usually for purely local reasons. 
Playgrounds of a right type are equally essential with 
schools; both may suffer from legislative or political short- 
sightedness here and there but the general trend is in all 
respects rapidly progressive. In the early development of 
playgrounds there is likely to be — has been — over-enthus- 
iasm and wrong emphasis on some particular points, but 
usually this is due to misconception or misdirected zeal 
rather than to any reason justifying the withdrawal of public 
support. 

The tendency seems to be for as willing public support 
with money and official interest as has been ever given to a 
movement to benefit the people fundamentally. Those who 
hold tied the municipal purse strings may here and there for 
a time fail to appreciate the value of prevention and decline 
to grasp the proven fact that such methods as are provided 
in recreation centers are true educational and social prevent- 
ives of powerful value. 

History tells us that the first "theorists" who advocated 
free public schools in the United States had fully as much 
trouble to educate official minds and get public financial sup- 
port as the playground advocates are having now. History, 
studied intelligently, is a wonderful teacher and a great en- 
courager of patient waiting; not idle waiting but busy, work- 
ing, propagandism with continued practical results for proof. 

The development of the playground movement is pro- 
ceeding at a very satisfactory rate in all ways. Mistakes of 
the early period are being made good and there are increasing 

21 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

indications that the work is being taken seriously, — that it 
has mostly passed the "fad" stage and become a staple re- 
quirement, This is, generally speaking, the view that is being 
taken where state laws are passed and advocated. 

Such laws authorizing playgrounds and other means for 
rational physical training in cities have been passed by 
the legislature of New Jersey, have been under considera- 
tion in the legislatures of Ohio and Massachusetts and are 
favored for early action in several other progressive states. 
The Massachusetts bill would authorize each town and city of 
10,000 population to maintain and carry on at least one public 
recreation center "of suitable size and equipment for the 
purposes of play, recreation and physical education." The 
funds would be raised by taxation or bond issues "as for other 
public necessities or improvements." 



The present interest in what are generally called play- 
grounds is an outgrowth from the older work of physical train- 
ing which was, until a few years ago, confined to gymnasiums. 
But the playground movement was not directly started in 
America by the physical training profession nor by any mem- 
ber of it; it got its initial impetus from social workers, edu- 
cators and those men and women who were free enough from 
conventional methods of procedure to recognize the value of 
play and recreation when rightly used and guided. Now 
directors of physical training are alive to the value of the 
newer form of what is naturally a part of their work and are 
becoming prominent in advancing its interests. This points 
to the time when the present occasional combination of gym- 
nasiums and playgrounds will become the general rule, all 
under the supervision of technically educated and fully com- 
petent instructors. Time is required to make necessary ad- 
justments between new and old methods but the tendency is 
in the right direction. 



22 




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CHAPTER II. 
WHAT DOES A PLAYGROUND INCLUDE? 

Definition of Names — Recreation Centers — Gym- 
nasiums — Buildings — Supervision — Adminstra- 
tion — Using a Plant — Recreation and Athletic 
Fields. 

In speaking or thinking of playgrounds it needs be 
remembered that this title is somewhat loosely applied. For 
instance, the dozen Chicago South Park establishments are 
commonly referred to as "playgrounds," when as a matter of 
fact playgrounds form but one feature. Each of the fully 
equipped establishments there includes : an athletic field, out- 
door gymnasium and playground for men, another for women, 
children's playground, sand court or pit, outdoor swimming 
pool ; field house in which is a gymnasium for men, another 
for women, baths, lockers, etc., as well as a lunch room, 
assembly hall ; and other features. 

To call all this a playground is hardly accurate and causes 
a public misunderstanding of just what is being talked about. 
A playground anywhere is not a gymnasium ; the two names 
do not mean the same thing and ought not to be misapplied. 
Playgrounds offer one excellent means for education in "pro- 
gressive public hygiene" for young and old ; gymnasiums 
offer another means. A playground may be outdoors or in- 
doors, but is usually regarded as an outdoor feature. A gym- 
nasium may be either in or out of doors but is usually indoors. 
Where several features are combined in one place the term 
"recreation center," seems proper for general use ; or "neigh- 
borhood center," if the establishment deserves that com- 
prehensive title. 

These are somewhat technical points but some definition 
is desirable for sake of accuracy. After all, the name is less 
important than to have the necessary work done by some 
effective means. In this book the term "playgrounds" is 

23 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

generally used as it is now commonly understood, although 
a distinction in terms is observed in some instances. 



Lines of Activity: — Generally speaking there are certain 
features of activity carried on in all modern playgrounds. 
The features fall into the departments of — 

Gymnastics or Physical Training, including Athletics. 

Kindergarten, under which may be included the Sand 
Gardens. 

Story Telling and Dramatic Expression, the two fitting 
together well. The stories and the expression work usually 
follow the line of folk lore, legend and the type of story dear 
to all normal children. There is perhaps more of the story 
telling feature than of the other, but there is a tendency 
toward it more and more as the work develops. 

Library, under which may be included the Quiet Games. 
The last three features work in harmony. 

Industrial Work, which borders on manual training and 
where there are facilities may include it. Basket and ham- 
mock weaving for both sexes and sometimes cooking for the 
girls and carpentry for the boys are taught, obviously to the 
the older children only. 



Divisions of Public Welfare Efforts: — Recreation Cen- 
ters: — There are a variety of departments for play and rec- 
reation that may be included properly under the general head 
of playgrounds as we know them ; but more accurately un- 
der the head of recreation centers, for reasons already stated. 
Briefly these departments or sections of the work may be 
listed as follows : 

School Yards, which often overflow into the school build- 
ings. 

Outdoor Playgrounds, which may or may not be con- 
nected with a school or with a park, in which are gymnasium 
and playground, spaces for games, sand gardens, etc. 

Roof Playgrounds, usually found in crowded sections of 
large cities, located often on roofs of school buildings, all the 
sides and often the top being covered with heavy wire net- 
ting or screen, and well illuminated at night. 

24 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Evening Recreation Centers — also typical of crowded city- 
sections, often in connection with social settlements or in 
school buildings, usually indoors and almost always partak- 
ing of social service aspects. 

Recreation Piers, found mainly in New York City, but 
also in Philadelphia and Boston. These piers usually con- 
sist of the second story of an ordinary pier some 600 feet long 
projecting into the water; but in Boston and elsewhere spe- 
cial piers have been built for no other than recreation pur- 
poses. 

Swimming Baths, may properly be included under the 
general classification. In practically all cities that have water 
facilities, either ocean, lake or river, public baths are main- 
tained. 



The Private Playground: — There are important differ- 
ences between the playground or open air gymnasium con- 
ducted by a city or town and one that is run by private inter- 
ests. The municipal institution will very surely get its de- 
serts and have proper apparatus and attendance. The pri- 
vate ground, on the other hand, often has to struggle along 
and wage a persistent fight against all sorts of obstacles until 
its worth is finally recognized. The maintenance of a private 
ground differs materially from that of a city ground. If the 
city is paying the bills it will provide police and water and 
the very fact that it is a city institution ensures a certain 
amount of respect. The private playground conducted by a 
small organization often gets no aid whatever from the city 
departments, except the little that may be given on account 
of the personal interest by some individual official. Official 
recognition may be slow in coming; it will come faster now 
that the general movement is getting such good advertising; 
but there are still many towns and cities throughout the 
country where the first playground must fight its way to 
recognition and appreciation. (Some ways to get local in- 
terest aroused are indicated in Chapter 31.) 



The Buildings in a playground may be called simply 

playground shelters or they may be called gymnasiums, or 

recreation buildings, or field houses, but here again the es- 

25 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

sential feature is their usefulness, not their names. Such 
buildings should have well equipped gymnasiums and the 
other features mentioned. Here can be classes in winter and 
in stormy weather at other seasons and thus the expensive 
plant kept busy all the year round, to the benefit of every- 
body concerned. 

Administration: — Playgrounds are usually expensive, 
considered just from a dollars and cents point of view; there- 
fore there is that much more reason for getting all possible 
service from them. But probably no playground or gym- 
nasium in the world, if it is properly and honestly conducted, 
is too expensive. There may be municipal gymnasiums and 
playgrounds that have fallen under the deplorable political 
"graft" system common to most American cities, that cost 
more than they ought, but this is the fault not of the play- 
grounds or gymnasiums, but of the political system and the 
unbusinesslike ways of conducting municipal institutions. 

New York City is said to have "undoubtedly the most 
costly playground system in the world. Eleven (play- 
grounds) have probably cost in the neighborhood of $15,000,- 
000." But in spite of this vast investment, the plants are run 
in a way that is far below maximum efficiency, mainly be- 
cause there is not proper supervision and equipment both of 
which "could be provided for $30,000 or $40,000," a compara- 
tively small amount in view of the money investment, not to 
mention the no less commercial importance of right results. 
This comment applies to the municipal playgrounds, not to 
the school playgrounds conducted by the city board of edu- 
cation. The school playgrounds and the summer recreation 
centers are efficiently conducted at practically maximum ca- 
pacity. 

In Boston the pioneer Charlesbank gymnasium and 
playground is a long way from being efficiently conducted ; 
the same is true of the exceptionally fine plant at Wood 
Island, one of the best in the United States in equipment, 
location and possibilities. One reason for the condition is 
that there is no head supervisor employed by the depart- 
ment controlling these places and hence practically no sys- 
tematic work conducted. In the smaller playgrounds scat- 
tered over the city the same condition exists for the same 
reasons. Boston playgrounds cost perhaps $3,000,000. As 

26 




A glimpse at a neighborhood playground with equipment. 




A playground offers opportunity now and then for spontaneous fun 
such as a right-made boy enjoys and such as a right-made instructor 
may allow in moderation. 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

little as $5,000 a year would double the efficiency of the play- 
grounds and athletic grounds and triple their usefulness to 
the people who need the service. 

These comments on two Eastern city conditions are 
made by way of illustration, not because other cities have 
perfect administration. The fault is, when we get to the 
basis, with the municipal system, not with the particular offi- 
cials having in charge the playgrounds and gymnasiums who 
are usually very eager to have better conditions. It is for 
newer cities to profit by such experiences and not duplicate 
the shortcomings. 

It need be recorded, however, that in both New York 
and Boston the faults are in process of removal. An ingrow- 
ing habit of a dozen years and more cannot always be tossed 
aside in a few months. As these lines are being written the 
newspapers record an expressed intention of the mayor of 
Boston to consolidate under. an efficient board all the gymna- 
siums, playgrounds and baths conducted by the city not al- 
ready in control of the school board. This method would 
put all Boston municipal physical training and recreation in 
the hands of two departments and enable efficient work by 
both. 



A New England city, undergoing its periodical house 
cleaning, had a spasm of economy and cut down by 40 per 
cent, the appropriation from which the public playgrounds 
and gymnasiums were maintained. It had been proven that 
"graft" was rampant in the department; that a dozen ineffi- 
cient men and women were employed at good salaries where 
six competent persons would have done much better service ; 
that there were "swimming instructors" on the pay roll who 
could not swim beyond their depth without a good life pre- 
server, etc. So the department had its appropriation reduced 
nearly a half. 

This illustrates that even reformers are not always ac- 
quainted with the value of such places as playgrounds and 
gymnasiums for moral education to prevent the growth of 
the graft germs. If a city is to be cleaned up morally and 
ethically the first places that ought to be put in efficient order 

27 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

are the gymnasiums and playgrounds and swimming beaches 
for it is here that we may get at the roots of the evils. 



A System: — Granted, then, that a playground system 
must include at least two features, — a building that contains 
a gymnasium, baths, etc., and an outdoor field or piece of land 
with its proper equipment, we have a beginning of a depart- 
ment for physical training that should be found in every city 
and large town; and small town, too. Such a department 
may consist of one building and one half-acre lot of land ad- 
joining, or it may include a thoroughly co-ordained system 
or several fully equipped buildings, outdoor feautres and ex- 
tensive athletic fields with full provision for many kinds of 
activity under good organization and supervision. In either 
case the principle is the same. The one-building and one- 
field plant is the nucleus from which other plants can radiate. 
How this may be accomplished is shown elsewhere in this 
book. (Chapter 9.) 

Extensive Recreation and Athletic Fields: — There is an- 
other phase of the subject in the large playground of from 50 
to 500 acres which may be used for great play festivals or 
what the Germans call folkfests, and where all the people 
are provided with means for exercise and recreation. This 
part of the general scheme has barely come in America, al- 
though the early symptoms are seen in Chicago's annual play 
festival and the country field day described in Chapter 29. 
There is much room for the idea to spread. Some cities have 
provided the land but it is not used as its possibilities permit. 
In Franklin Field and Franklin Park, Boston, there are excel- 
lent illustrations of this kind of provision for the people. 
Van Courtland Park, New York City, contains similar possi- 
bilities and so do several of the large parks in Chicago. 

Although the facilities provided for recreation, games, 
and sports in these great public reserved spaces of country 
outside the crowded city sections are used practically to their 
limit, that limit is too close to the starting point. Where 
there are 25 lawn tennis courts there should be 100; the half 
dozen base ball diamonds should be multiplied by ten or the 
game modified for use in less area; there should be more 
golf links, more cricket fields, more reserved places for lawn 

28 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

bowls, becoming popular in Boston's Franklin Field; and so 
on. 

Of course to approach the ideal condition in great cities 
is often considered impossible and almost always said to be 
impracticable. The same line of argument is used as is of- 
fered by street railway companies, — impossible to provide for 
all the people all the time. It may be that a company can- 
not afford to run cars enough; it may be that a city cannot 
afford to provide land or place equipment enough, but 
neither is impossible nor in very many places even impractic- 
able. If the need is proven and the desire created in official 
minds, imaginary obstacles will vanish. 

The consideration is not of athletic fields but of large 
recreation fields where people may go to exercise, not merely 
to be spectators. The two ideas may be combined in separate 
parts of a large plot of land, however. An athletic field us- 
ually involves much special provision for onlookers ; the rec- 
reation field, such as Franklin Park, Boston, and Van Court- 
land park, New York, is planned first of all for the people who 
recreate; the mere spectator has to take his chances. There 
is no reason why the two should not be one, if the athletic or 
spectacular competition features do not interfere with what 
is of more real importance — the getting of many people of 
all ages and sexes out of doors for hours at a time to take 
personal exercise in the open air and sunlight. 

Such a recreation field does not necessarily require a 
technically trained supervisor or instructor, although this 
provision will be of very real value. A competent caretaker 
and matron or several of them will serve ; such persons are 
needed to look after equipment, attend to details of allotment 
of playing spaces, care for the field house, etc. 

The recreation field or the athletic field is good for twelve 
months a year of service, by a flooded skating rink or several 
of them in winter. Toboggan slides are built in these fields 
and there ought to be more such provision for winter sports, 
where there is suitable weather, as there is in our northern 
sections. 

This reference to the larger phases of playground pos- 
sibilities must suffice for this book, which has to deal primar- 
ily with the local or neighborhood centers within easy walk- 
ing distance of those who are to use them. 

29 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Supervision: — Having a building and a playground we 
next need a man or woman to supervise the work to be done 
with the plant. Pause here! The director or supervisor 
should come as soon as or even before the plant. It is a 
radical mistake to wait until a playground is built and 
equipped before having a director. The director should be- 
"on the job" from the very start. If he or she is competent, 
and of course it is the competent person that is in mind, the 
salary cost will be saved before a boy or a girl sees the in- 
side of the equipped building or has a chance to test the open 
air apparatus. Too many committees and boards of officials 
look at the item of salary that goes to the supervisor for 
weeks or months before the work with classes starts as so 
much lost money. There is no better place to spend it in the 
whole plan. (See chapter 4.) 

Putting the Plant in Use: — Having the building, the 
playground and the director, the next point is to get the peo- 
ple to use the plant and make it possible for the instructors 
to "earn their salaries." A very few lines will dispose of 
this matter. There probably never was a playground or a 
gymnasium opened in any city that needed to go hunting for 
people to use it. The people are waiting for as many such 
places for their recreation and education as are likely to be 
created right away. In one summer the 67 school play- 
grounds in New York City had an average daily attendance 
of 38,566. In Providence, R. I., seven summer playgrounds 
had a total attendance of 78,123 (31,562 boys and 46,561 girls) 
or a daily average of about 1,650. The daily average attend- 
ance per playground was about 576 in New York and 236 in 
Providence. Allowing for the greater density of population 
where most of the New York playgrounds were located, the 
average number of children using the facilities offered them 
was much the same. The total cost of maintaining the Provi- 
dence playgrounds was about $3,000, or less than four cents a 
child. In Philadelphia the cost per child has been estimated 
at a trifle less than four cents a playground day. Yes, play- 
grounds and gymnasiums will be well patronized in any city 
and the money cost is insignificant. 

A city built a fine large gymnasium with baths and all 
the up-to-date equipment, and then locked the doors for some 

30 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

months while the people at city hall argued and fought over 
the point of how to pay for its maintenance. The people 
wrote letters to the newspapers and made life not a pleas- 
ure for their wardmen and besieged the closed doors, most 
anxious to use what they knew was for them within. Fin- 
ally all the political tangles were gotten rid of and the build- 
ing opened. That was three years ago. The building has 
never from the first day been able to accommodate the peo- 
ple wanting to use it. This experience can be duplicated in 
almost any city of the country. Why is it, then, that there 
is any hesitation on the part of city officials to provide more 
such accommodation? Where and how can public money be 
better invested? There is no answer but one. 

Instructors: — So we have the people waiting to use the 
plant. Now for the instruction. This must come, as already 
said, from competent teachers who know their business. Or- 
dinary gymnasium instructors may be failures in playground 
work, but they should not be. There are differences between 
the two types of work, but each sort belongs in both places. 
In days to come every trained teacher of physical traning or 
playground work, whichever it may be called, will be able 
to take charge of the work indoors or outdoors, either as su- 
pervisor or director, or as instructor under a supervisor. But 
at this writing this condition does not exist, from no fault of 
anybody in particular. 

We have had gymnasiums doing fine work for more than 
half a century in America, but we have not had playgrounds 
in complete form for more than ten years, with a possible 
isolated exception here and there. And it is only within the 
past five years that any considerable number of well equipped 
and properly conducted playgrounds have been known. Now 
that the demand is here, teachers are coming forth to be 
trained for the work. 

Bathing Beaches. — In close connection with public bath 
houses there are the public beaches conducted where there 
is suitable opportunity ; sometimes directed by the cities 
within whose limits they are located, or, as in Massachusetts, 
largely by the state, which puts bath facilities and manage- 
ment on a high plane of efficiency, supplying bathing suits 

31 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

as well as shower baths, locker rooms and other essentials. 
Very few places have yet reached the stage of development 
to officially permit what has been in vogue in at least one 
place in London for a number of years, and in one place in 
Boston, namely, bathing and swimming and use of the beach 
by men and boys without clothing. This is a somewhat rev- 
olutionary step in this country, but is a natural enough de- 
velopment which may become more common at proper times 
and places. The idea has grown to be so popular at the one 
beach in Boston set apart for such use, that the accommoda- 
tions are much over-taxed. Ten thousand men have used 
their section in one day, the present year. Plans are under 
consideration for opening one or two new places in other 
sections of the city. 

Tournaments and Festivals. — Akin to the extensive fes- 
tivals or large gatherings of the type referred to are the tour- 
naments, inter-playground meets, or closing festivals, which 
find favor in some localities. There are often objections 
raised to holding such features on account of the work in- 
volved, the excessive competitive interests arising among the 
participants and the possible interference with regular work 
of the playgrounds. In spite of the objections such festivals 
can be made of real service in a large way to the general play- 
ground movement. It all depends on how it is done. Pitts- 
burg, Pa., and Washington, D. C, are among the cities that 
have carried out such festivals with considerable success. 

Street Railway Parks.— Somewhat related to the general 
movement for providing means for outdoor recreation may 
be mentioned the parks maintained by street railway com- 
panies. These parks are usually, or always, maintained as 
business propositions ; that is, to make money for the street 
railway companies ; but they are also, many of them, equipped 
with provision for physical exercise such as baseball, tennis, 
rowing, canoeing, sometimes swimming, as well as the means 
for amusement through vaudeville, open air theatres, danc- 
ing pavilions, music, etc. There are more than five hun- 
dred such parks in the United States. 



32 



CHAPTER III. 

WHY HAVE PLAYGROUNDS AT PUBLIC EXPENSE? 

As Necessary to Have Physical Training as 
Mental Training — Prevention of Social Evils 
Cheaper Than Cure — Systematic Exercise for All 
Ages — Municipal Recognition of Value of Play- 
grounds. 

A Playground is the Right of Every Individual. 

It need not be a million dollar affair; it can be a tene- 
ment house back yard (where there is a back yard) or a roof. 
There is a roof (or at least a piazza) on most every house 
that hasn't a back yard. Therefore there is no excuse for 
any individual in even semi-normal condition not having a 
playground. 

Every city and town should provide public playgrounds 
and gymnasiums with proper supervision for rational forms 
of exercise as well as for health education apart from exer- 
cise. But each family should also have its private playground 
and gymnasium in some form. Neither is a satisfactory sub- 
stitute for the other. 

A man and a woman, a boy and a girl, all require ra- 
tional physical activity as long as they live. They require 
motor training as they require mental training or manual 
training. There is just as much reason for a city not pro- 
viding schools for its children as for not providing means 
for physical training and recreation — and no more. 

A properly conducted playground, a properly conducted 
gymnasium, indoors or outdoors, is a general education cen- 
ter; a center for moral and ethical training; a place to teach 
the art of living without depending on "graft," a feat that 
seems almost impossible to too many of the next generation 
of men now growing up in crowded centers of population. 

A city that does not provide suitable places for its citi- 
zens and coming citizens to care for their physical selves 

33 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

will be called upon to provide additional police stations, jails 
and hospitals. 

Prevention is very much cheaper than cure, both for 
the patient and the doctor. 

The correct idea of a playground takes in much more 
than a vacant lot where boys play baseball, or even a fenced 
in and apparatus supplied recreation center. A proper play- 
ground system provides for the physical welfare of all ages 
and sexes and colors and nationalities, in one establishment 
or in several separate locations. The young women need 
rational exercise and pure play — especially real relaxation 
from restraint of all kinds — fully as much as the young men. 
The elderly people need forms of the same kind of attention 
as well as the small children. 

If there are combined in one place interests for all ages, 
it may be more easily a social center with fathers, mothers, 
sons, daughters, and aunts and cousins also, assembling with 
a common purpose but still having individual interests. 

Children need a place for systematic exercise, be it called 
play or "having fun" or physical training. Play may be as 
instinctive to normal children as to normal puppies, but 
the children benefit by intelligent supervision and wise guid- 
ance. The knowing supervisor of child play will see that 
proper apparatus — proper tools — are used and that the chil- 
dren are led toward the better purposes of recreation rather 
than toward the demoralizing features of unguided, meaning- 
less play. This can be best done in a place equipped and set 
apart for the purpose. We teach general education in school 
houses and naturally the playground is the best place to 
teach play. 

The ordinances of a large New England city contain this 
provision, which sums up in a few words the conditions in 
most cities of the country : 

"No persons shall play at ball or throw stones 

or other missiles, or slide on any sled or machine, or 

in any vehicle whatever, for amusement, in any of 

the streets or highways." 

Toronto, Canada, has a Queen's Park. A generation ago 
it was a recreation spot of much value and used by the city's 

34 




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AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

children freely. Now there is a sign "Ball playing strictly 
prohibited." As if this was not enough restriction, an order 
was passed last winter prohibiting coasting down the hills. 

As a good proportion of the vacant lots have "no tres- 
passing" signs, where are the boys to play, if their fathers do 
not happen to own a piece of empty land, without being law 
breakers? The only answer is that cities must provide arti- 
ficial playgrounds to give to the children rights taken from 
them by modern municipal conditions. 

In a properly equipped and supervised playground the 
natural rights of boys and girls are protected. 

As has so often been said, most boys who break laws, 
who stone the neighbors' cats, who see how few whole panes 
of glass they can leave in the unused factory building, whose 
idea of manliness is associated with the corner tough who 
once licked the gamest "cop" on the force ; — these boys are 
usually less to blame than are the authorities who provide no 
outlet for natural strenousness but instead attempt to bottle 
up the energy. As well tie down tight the cover on a coffee 
tank full of boiling drink and not expect an explosion ! 

To be sure the parents are often, at the bottom of affairs, 
the responsible parties for much so-called lawlessness of 
children, but that is a subject not to be treated in this book. 

To quote : "Give a boy a chance at football, basketball, 
hockey or 'the game'; give him an opportunity to perform 
difficult and dangerous feats on a horizontal bar, on the fly- 
ing rings, or from a diving board; and the policeman will 
need a gymnasium himself to keep his weight down. This 
is not theory but is the testimony you will get from any po- 
liceman or schoolmaster who has been in a neighborhood be- 
fore and after a playground was started there." 

So much for the boys of the "privileged class," as a Har- 
vard professor modernly calls them, or of the "submerged 
tenth," as the older sociologists styled them. 

As a matter of fact the children of rich or wealthy par- 
ents, of the socially elevated classes, need the education and 
training and good effects to be had from properly directed 
play and physical training. No all the surplus energy of 
these boys goes toward the idea of stoning cats and breaking 

35 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

windows, but they get the same satisfactory results in other 
ways. We need to remember, whether we like to or not, 
that natural characteristics in the different strata of society 
do not really and truly differ so very much. The experiment 
of providing a playground especially for children of the so- 
called upper classes has been tried and proved successful. 

Such a place, restricted to a special class of a community, 
ought not to be supported by public funds, as conditions are 
at present. So it need not be referred to here except to im- 
press the fact that all sorts and conditions of people and chil- 
dren will use playgrounds if adapted to their interests and 
needs. 

Private playgrounds conducted for those who can afford 
to pay a fee have been profitably conducted, although this 
idea is a comparatively new one. It offers a good opening 
for men and women capable of conducting such work where 
there is sufficient possible patronage. 

There is also the possibility of placing public play- 
grounds in the sections of cities devoted to the better class 
of residences and thus catering to the people who live there. 
This idea is of the same stamp as the more popular one of 
placing playgrounds in the poorer quarters and crowded sec- 
tions of cities so that the people there may have the benefit. 
Both should be done, although it is probably quite proper to 
give the crowded, poorer parts of large cities first attention. 
But we do not need class legislation in playground and gym- 
nasium matters any more than in other municipal affairs. 

Municipal Recognition. 

"The demand for playgrounds has increased and more 
disposition to establish them has been shown among officials. 
Ten years ago a public playground could only have been 
thought of as the gift of some wealthy philanthropist. Now 
their place in the public expenditure is as well established as 
is that of parks and the need for them is almost as well rec- 
ognized as that of schools. 

"It is within the memory of the present generation that 
the application of prevention to the problem of criminal ad- 
ministration began. Reformatories have grown less and less 

36 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

like prisons in their administration and the machinery for 
keeping people out of jail is now thoroughly well established 
through our children's courts and the parole system for first 
offenders. 

"But that is only one side of the problem. The state sup- 
ports not only prisons, but almshouses and hospitals. Keep- 
ing recruits out of the latter is just as much a problem of 
practical administration as keeping people out of prison. 

"The first preventative step is to have people born and 
raised with sound bodies. Over their birth neither science 
nor the state as yet exercises any control. But the rearing of 
a city-born population so as to reduce the percentage of crim- 
inals, paupers and diseased is an intensely practical matter. 
Fresh air and occupation are the first requisites for sound 
growth and the playgrounds minister directly to that need. 
Play is as necessary to a child as food, and in a city where 
every square foot of ground has a market value a place to 
play must be supplied by the city, because otherwise the chil- 
dren convert streets into playgrounds, to their own harm and 
the annoyance and danger of adults who use the streets for 
business or pleasure. 

"The time will come when the city will give to every 
child who seeks it the rudiments at least of hand training, 
because it is cheaper to help him grow up as a thrifty citizen 
than to have him and his family hanging upon the skirts of 
charitable societies and on the edge of the poorhouse. But 
the need for manual training is less pressing than that for 
playgrounds." — (From an editorial in Brooklyn, N. Y., 
"Eagle.") 

"The experience of some of our older cities in being 
forced by conditions of congestion to purchase sites for play- 
grounds at enormous expense, is being heeded by the rapidly 
growing cities of the west and space is being set aside for 
this purpose before it is too late. An indication of the ten- 
dency in this direction is illustrated by a bill that passed the 
legslature of the state of Washington (1907) but was after- 
wards vetoed by the governor. It provided that in all addi- 
tions to cities of 10,000 inhabitants of more one-tenth of the 
area, exclusive of streets, should be set aside for parks and 

37 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

playgrounds. This idea coincides splendidly with the present 
widespread interest in city planning. Cities are discovering 
that they cannot afford to go on growing in a haphazard way, 
and some day be obliged to tear down and build over at 
enormous expense, and then have only a makeshift at best. 
Instead they are employing experts to lay out a plan for ulti- 
mate development. Happily for the boys and girls, and for 
the public welfare, too, most of our leading landscape archi- 
tects appreciate the necessity of providing playgrounds as 
well as parks and boulevards. 

"The important place that playgrounds are being given 
in civic affairs is well illustrated in San Francisco. In spite 
of the enormous financial burdens in rebuilding their city 
(following the earthquake and fire of 1907) they voted a bond 
issue of $741,000 for the purchase of playground sites, and an 
appropriation of $20,000 for 1908 running expenses. A play- 
ground commission of seven members will annually present 
its budget, get its appropriation, and carry on its work just 
as definitely as any other department of the city administra- 
tion." — (From an article in "Charities," by Lee F. Hanmer.) 




How a School Building and Playground May Be 
Combined. 



33 



CHAPTER IV. 

TRAINED SUPERVISION AND GUIDANCE. 

A Leader an Essential — No Supervision, no Play- 
ers — Children Prefer Intelligent Direction — A Care- 
taker not a Substitute for a Trained Instructor — An 
Instructor is a Leader and Guide Rather Than a Di- 
rector — Ensures Right Use of Grounds in Right 
Ways. 

Very few movements, small or great, will go on for long 
or accomplish much without a leader. Someone with recog- 
nized authority to be used when necessary is essential to 
most, if not all, undertakings even in this democratic Amer- 
ica. Just so, a game will "go" better if there is an umpire or 
a captain or a director at hand. 

President Roosevelt expressed the idea as applied to 
playgrounds in these words : — 

"Neither must any city believe that simply to furnish 
open spaces will secure the best results. There must be su- 
pervision of these playgrounds, otherwise the older and 
stronger children occupy them to the exclusion of the younger 
and weaker ones ; they are so noisy that people living in the 
neighborhood are annoyed ; they are apt to get into the pos- 
session of gangs and become the rendezvous of the most un- 
desirable elements of the population ; the exercise and play 
is less systematic and vigorous when without supervision; 
and moreover in all cities where the experiment has been 
tried it has been found that such playgrounds are not well at- 
tended. " 

Another observer, a public school director of physical 
training, Dr. Rebecca Stoneroad, writes : — 

"It may be said by some that such play is not real play, 
that it lacks spontaneity and the whimsical element. The 
experience of summer playground teachers has been that chil- 

39 



AMERICAN FLA YGROUNDS 

dren prefer direction; that of two playgrounds, one having a 
teacher and the other not. the children Hock to the one where 
the teacher is directing, while it is an acknowledged fact that 
the unsupervised free playgrounds are little used. Some chil- 
dren do not care to play, and need to be encouraged, not 
forced, or the purpose of play for recreation would be lost. 
When forced, play becomes work. If left to the individual 
child only certain ones play, generally those who have special 
skill in a certain game which is played to the exclusion of 
others, producing onesidedness. Unsupervised play is spas- 
modic and irregular, and cannot be considered as an integral 
part of a physical training course, although accessory to it. 

"The personality of the teacher, the voice and the man- 
ner, inspiring methods and enthusiasm all have their influ- 
ence. Joy and happiness is is a mental state which to a de- 
gree can be reflected from one to another. Enthusiasm is 
contagious." 

Concerning instructors or teachers for playgrounds, 
Joseph Lee writes : 

"Another thing the boy of the Big Injun age must have is 
a teacher on the playground — not for the sake of discipline ; 
grown-ups are too soft to be of any use for that purpose — 
but partly for maintaining order and partly because, for boys 
of this age, outside leadership of some sort seems to be in 
most cases a necessity. It is true that boys who are brought 
up in the very strong tradition of a preponderating game, or 
who are thrown with any older boys who take some interest 
in looking after them, will play without the leadership of a 
grown up person. But this is not true of most boys and is 
not true at the times of the year w r hen the traditionally estab- 
lished game is not in season. There is a critical attitude of 
mind, together with a fierce individualism, in boys under 
eleven years old, that in most cases make anarchy practically 
inevitable a large part of the time if they are left to them- 
selves. A boarding school teacher has told me that the only 
kind of occupation he had ever known them capable of car- 
rving on if left to themselves was to set upon one of their 
number and tease him. This seemed to be the highest social 
institution they were able to support. 

40 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

"The leaders whom the school will furnish to the children 
during play hours will include an expert on games and phy- 
sical exercise ; but they will also include, for some hours every 
week, the same teachers who have charge of the children in 
the school room. As my boarding school principal said to me, 
'When you join with the boys in their games, the problem of 
discipline disappears.' 

"The playground must be put distinctly under the mas- 
ter of the school as a part of the plant for the proper use of 
which he is responsible, in order that he may have placed in 
his hands the machinery necessary for dealing with the whole 
boy and may be made to feel that the whole boy — the edu- 
cation of boys and girls and not merely the teaching them 
things — is his job. The question we ask of the head of a 
boarding school is not, 'How much Latin have you taught 
my boy?' or 'How good is he at arithmetic?' but 'What 
kind of a boy have you made of him?' and until we 'learn to 
put the question to our public school teachers in the same 
way we are not asking of them to do the thing that we really 
want done. 

"As a matter of practical experience, the opinion of those 
who have done actual playground work is unanimous to the 
effect that leadership on a playground for children between 
six and eleven years old is a necessity. The child of this pe- 
riod is not a finished creature, but an incomplete and partial 
one. The elder brother or leader is his necessary complement. 

"A play leader costs something, it is true, but there is 
danger of being penny-wise in this matter. In a big city es- 
pecially, where a playground costs many thousands of dollars, 
it is poor economy to save the salary of a man or woman who 
could more than treble its effectiveness." 



Moral Effect Reversed Without Supervision. — "The use- 
fulness of a playground is seriously limited by the lack of 
efficient supervision. The men in charge as mere caretakers 
with no knowledge whatever of gymnastics or the use of the 
apparatus are worse than unsatisfactory. The result is that 
the bigger boys learn a few tricks or stunts more or less dan- 
gerous and the weaker ones receive no attention. Even such 

41 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

apparatus for the little ones as swings and see-saws is monop- 
oplized by the stronger and more aggressive children, to the 
exclusion of the timid and w r eak. 

"Thus the moral effect of the playground is wholly lost 
or completely reversed. Instead of a child learning to 'take 
its turn' it learns that 'might makes right' and 'to the victor 
belongs the spoils.' Weaklings are effectually taught that 
they have no rights the stronger ones are bound to respect 
and get thoroughly discouraged." — (W. L. Coop.) 



Secretary Henry S. Curtis of the Playground Association 
of America told the Physical Directors' Society of the Y. M. 
C. A. in national convention that "the play organizer is the 
most important element in a successful playground. Space 
there must be. A good equipment serves as a sort of an ad- 
vertisement to draw the children to the ground, and has a 
certain usefulness of its own, but the attendance of the chil- 
dren and the good results obtained will depend one-hundred 
fold more on the ability to interest and organize the children 
than it will on the best equipment. Vacant spaces or 
equipped playgrounds without a play organizer become seats 
of disorder and noise against which the whole neighborhood 
soon rebels. They fail utterly to secure organization in games 
and sports, to train through competition, and co-operation in 
the spirit of sportsmanship. They have for children only a 
very low athletic value. The organized playground soon 
comes to stand for all the virtues the play leader himself rep- 
resents. Measured merely by the attendance of the children, 
it is the only successful playground, for a good director will 
double and treble the attendance over that of a mere care- 
taker." 

Dr. Curtis has also written on another phase of the ques- 
tion : 

The title "Directed Play" is a misnomer and has been the 
source of a great many absurd criticisms of the playground 
movement. It has suggested to the uninitiated that the play- 
ground leaders stand about and order the children to play 
this game or that, and that in general the directed playground 
is a place where there is no liberty or spontaneity on the part 

42 




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of the children, that it is an assault on the last stronghold of 
child liberty and self-expression, and that it must inevitably 
result in making him a mere automaton. 

In actual fact, the work of the play leader has almost 
nothing in common with this idea of direction. The success- 
ful play leader is the one who organizes the children into live 
teams around various activities and interests ; he is the per- 
son who can keep a number of different groups of children 
interested and busy at the same time ; he is, to a considerable 
extent, a leader ; he is to some extent a teacher of new games, 
but his prime function is, I conceive, that of an organizer. 
He is not at all a director in the sense in which it is com- 
monly understood. 

The remark that organized play takes away the origin- 
ality of the children seems to me quite contrary to the teach- 
ing both of modern psychology and of experience. The chil- 
dren left to themselves with one or two games seldom invent 
new ones, whilst children who have learned, through the 
playground or any other means, a considerable number of 
games, are constantly modifying old ones or starting ones 
that are practically new. 



Concerning the sort of a man needed for a public play- 
ground director or instructor, E. D. Angell has written as 
follows : 

"The director of a public playground should know chil- 
dren. He should have not alone the theoretical knowledge 
of the child-mind gained from studies in psychology and 
pedagogy, but the exact understanding that comes from a 
memory of his own youth, reawakened by direct contact 
with the youngster. He must have qualities that appeal to 
the boy; he should be an athlete or a gymnast, for there is 
nothing that catches the respect of the boy so quickly as 
muscular strength and physical skill. If he is not an athlete 
he must have the qualities of leadership and an appreciation 
of the child's needs so that he can direct him along the lines 
of his greatest interest. 

"The playground director is not necessarily a teacher; 
he is a leader, and by mixing with the boys in their plays and 

43 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

games, he guides them along by suggestion instead of by 
teaching. He should be ingenious and original — able to 
adapt himself to the many varying conditions that arise on a 
playground. He must be tactful and considerate, sympa- 
thetic and ready at all times to help his boys. He must be a 
friend of the boys, and if they are glad to have him around 
and show it, he can be pretty sure that his work is a success. 

"The results of the work on directed playgrounds are so 
much superior to what is accomplished on grounds undi- 
rected, that a return to the old way is never considered by 
the cities that have had both experiences. 

"On the undirected playground, the play is uncontrolled 
and the vicious habits of the street are simply transferred. 
The bully element is in evidence, and the young and weak are 
crowded out. A crowd of adult loafers often drive the boys 
from the ball diamond and use it for themselves. 

"These conditions do not exist on the directed play- 
ground. The director interests himself in every child, weak 
or strong, good or bad. Smoking, gambling and profanity are 
forbidden and the boy develops under conditions that are 
more conducive to his moral and physical welfore. 

"The playground director is a member of one of the most 
useful of professions; his field is the right shaping of the 
lives and characters of thousands of boys at a susceptible age 
and under peculiarly potent conditions. He should realize 
the importance of these opportunities and know that his 
work well done is as valuable as any other work in the edu- 
cation of the boy." 




A Compact City Playground 
with gymnasiums and build- 
ings. 



44 



CHAPTER V. 

INSTRUCTORS: SOURCES, REQUIREMENTS, 

SALARIES. 

Growing Means for Technical Training — Physi- 
cal Education and State Normal Schools — Kinder- 
gartners — Need for Practical Experience — Sample 
Requirements and Rates of Pay — Hours — Signs for 
the Future. 

Elsewhere in this book reference is made to the present 
scant provision for special technical training of playground 
instructors. This lack is being met by the regular normal 
schools of physical education whose old courses in play and 
games are being strengthened and new courses added. But 
even as matters stand, graduates of several of the schools 
are well equipped to be playground instructors. It may be 
a question whether many such students are fully qualified 
to become supervisors immediately upon graduation without 
actual post-grauate work under playground conditions, but 
some are so qualified. 

The summer schools of physical training are paying in- 
creasing attention to the subject and in notable instances ex- 
cellent special instruction is given in the features peculiar to 
outdoor needs. 

Some of the state normal schools provide such instruc- 
tion and many good teachers come from these institutions. 
As women instructors are generally favored for dealing with 
younger children, the state normal schools are excellent 
sources of supply. As the need increases, these schools will 
unquestionably offer particular courses for the purpose. 

Kindergarten teachers are in much demand in play- 
grounds, especially for the vacation or summer schools con- 
ducted by cities. A desirable combination in a corps of play- 
ground instructors would include a specially trained kinder- 
gartener. 

45 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Men instructors come in part from the same sources ; 
also from the Y. M. C. A. training schools, from colleges and 
from association gymnasiums. The college men usually get 
appointments on the strength of athletic knowledge or abil- 
ity. Not all of them care for or are offered re-appointments. 

As a rule the instructors coming through any of these 
channels will need to learn more or less by actual experience, 
unless they have had previous practical service, but this is 
unavoidable under present conditions. 

To get in touch with would-be playground leaders or 
instructors, one good way is to write to the Playground Asso- 
ciation of America, New York City, where there is always a 
list of available men and women, as well as a list of places 
wanting instructors, in various parts of the country. The 
teachers' agencies and exchanges also supply such special 
instructors and are informed of vacancies. 

Where playgrounds are municipal institutions and in- 
structors must be local residents, there is the usual method 
of competitive examinations, governed by local conditions. 
But even in municipal departments non-residents sometimes 
can secure positions, especially if the home supply of raw ma- 
terial runs short. 

Supervisors of playgrounds, who have had good expert 
ence in well equippel and properly managed institutions, are 
aften secured from 'among the assistants in large city sys- 
tems. Chicago South Parks, for example, have in this way 
supplied trained heads for several other city systems. 

Playground directors also come from the general edu- 
cators. School principals, men and women, may make ex- 
cellent leaders for playground work, often ranking higher 
in efficient results than others who have had special techni- 
cal traning in athletics or gymnastics. 

Salaries vary greatly and it is a little risky to quote fig- 
ures. In general it may be said that the supervisor of a city 
system of several playgrounds should receive from $1,200 to 
$2,000 a year, with permanent all-the-year position. Many 
supervisors get less and two or three may get more. 

Instructors or assistants receive from $600 to $1,000 a 
year or season with permanent appointments, or from $24 to 
$60 a month where engaged for the summer period. Many 

46 




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AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

of these positions require part time only ; four or five hours 
a day is common for assistants, but the actual hours vary so 
much with local conditions that no definite statement can be 
made. In some places assistants receive $75 to $100 or $125 
a month, but these are usually exceptional full time positions. 

Minneapolis Park Commission pays men and women di- 
rectors $50 a month for two months' work, July 1 to August 
31. Washington, D. C, pays $35 to $45. Philadelphia pays 
$40 a month, based on a half day's service, either forenoon or 
afternoon, six days a week. In playgrounds where special 
work is demanded the salary is $43.75 a month. Inexperi- 
enced teachers in this city are assigned to duty as assistants 
for one week without salary. Appointments to salaried po- 
sitions follow if the teachers are qualified. 

Some information compiled by the Philadelphia Board 
of Education concerning the requirements for positions 
there is of general value and is reprinted as follows: 

In order to secure a position as teacher in a public 
school's playground an applicant must have a teacher's 
certificate or show qualifications equal to a normal school 
training. 

In the smaller school yards the playground work is 
principally the care and instruction of smaller boys and 
girls, the ages ranging from four to ten years. The prep- 
aration of a teacher for this work (class A) is princi- 
pally that along kindergarten lines with the additional 
knowledge of games and occupations suitable for chil- 
dren seven to ten years of age. 

In the larger school yards and in a few fields where 
boys and girls from four to sixteen years assemble, there 
are generally two teachers, one to take care of the smaller 
children and the other, preferably a man, to look after 
the older children. The teacher for the older children 
(class B) must have some knowledge of handwork suit- 
able for these pupils, e. g., paper folding, reed and raffia 
work, cardboard sloyd, hammock making, etc. ; (wood- 
work at benches is taught in a few grounds) ; he also 
must have a thorough knowledge of team games and of 
light apparatus. 

All applicants should have a good working knowl- 

47 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

edge of songs and stories. They should be competent to 
select songs and stories for their educational and moral 
values; should be familiar with such books as "Mother 
Stories" by Maude Lindsay, "In Storyland" by Eliza- 
beth Harrison, "In the Child's World" by Emilie Pauls- 
son, "Norse Stories" by Harrison Mabie, "Fairy Tales" 
by Eduard Laboulaye. 

Applicants are expected to be thoroughly familiar 
with "Singing Games, Old and New," by Marie Hofer, 
and "Gymnastic Games" by E. H. Arnold. 

Applicants for positions should understand that 
playground work is of a very active nature, demanding 
physically well-formed teachers, and that no one incapa- 
ble of bearing the double mental and physical strain 
should apply. 

The playgrounds are open during July and August, 
six days per week. As a rule there are two sessions per 
day, the morning session being from 8.30 to 12 o'clock, 
the afternoon session from 1.30 to 5 o'clock. Local con- 
ditions may make it advisable to change these hours. 

In Providence, R. I., a city of 100,000 population main- 
taining seven playgrounds, directors are paid from the munic- 
ipal treasury at the rate of $2 a day or $10 a week of six days ; 
assistants $1.80 a day or $9 a week. For the season's work 
covering eight weeks this gives each director $80 and each 
assistant $J2. The supervisor, a woman with previous experi- 
ence and practical knowledge, receives $300 for the season. 
Regular school janitors look after cleaning up, small repairs, 
etc., at $1 a day or $40 for the season. A superintendent of 
janitors did efficient service. The season's total salary list for 
the seven playgrounds was in 1907: Supervisor, $300; direc- 
tors and assistants, $1,649; janitors, $280; total $2,229. 

As playgrounds receive proper recognition and become 
more completely identified with gymnasiums and physical 
training departments as essential municipal necessities, there 
will be more permanent positions paying $1,200 to $1,500 a 
year, because, for one reason, a high grade type of specially 
educated people will be required for a new profession. 

"The supply of trained playground teachers is wofully 
limited, just at the time when they are specially needed — 

48 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

the time when playgrounds are 'on trial' — in many cities. 
To meet this demand the Playground Association of America 
has appointed a committee to prepare courses of instruction 
on playground organization and administration to be sent to 
all normal schools and colleges in the country. Where this 
subject has been presented to normal schools, and the ex- 
tent of the movement described, there has been a ready re- 
sponse and requests for suggestions of courses of instruction 
that may be given. 

"The fact that in the future supervised playgrounds are 
to be conducted, not only during the summer vacation but 
also after school hours and on Saturdays during the whole 
year, makes it evident that a knowledge of playground work 
must be a part of the public school teacher's equipment. 
Those who provide themselves with such equipment will 
thereby be able to materially increase their income, and will 
at the same time come into a kind of relation with the boys 
and girls that will help to solve many of the difficult prob- 
lems of school discipline." — Lee F. Hanmer. 






I— m »1 



& OcT) <&\ CcTj fey (g> 6ft Q.'X.i) 



A TVvc«l (IMU WlVU* H*> V«*»M. . 

A German Plan. 
(See page 51.) 




- 

Sand Court or Pit, with per- 
gola covering benches. 
(See chapter 23.) 



49 



CHAPTER VI. 

SCHOOL YARD PLAYGROUND REQUIREMENTS. 

The Thirty Square Feet for an Individual Rule — 
Serviceable Apparatus Essential — How to Make a 
Modest Start — Need to Secure Land a Long Time 
Ahead — Gymnastics and Play Distinct, not Substi- 
tutes. 

With the increasing realization that school houses and 
grounds can and ought to be put to use during the hours 
when school is not in session for studies and recitations, it 
becomes comparatively easy to have the yards and grounds 
equipped and used as playgrounds, open air gymnasiums and 
rest spots. This plan is now practically general in the United 
States and in some degree is adopted in most of the larger 
cities. 

Experts have figured that a proper school playground 
should contain at least 30 square feet of space for each indi- 
vidual using it. This is the standard in England for new 
buildings and yards. In Prussia it is about 20 square feet. 
In Germany the space varies from 20 to 75 square feet. In 
Prance 50 square feet per individual is the rule. The figures 
are approximate but are essentially correct. In America the 
school yard space per pupil is from 5 to 40 square feet, the 
average being perhaps 10 to 20, except for the very newest 
schools in which up-to-date ideas have been adopted in this 
respect and the 30 square feet rule is followed as closely as 
feasible. These references apply to the yards adjoining 
school buildings and are of course modified by local condi- 
tions, in America and abroad. There is need for legislation 
governing this matter. It is being agitated and will be sys- 
tematically worked for. There are practically uniform laws 
regarding ventilation of schoolhouses, which offers a good 
precedent for like enactments to cover yard room. 

50 




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AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

A common arrangement of public high schools in Ger- 
many provides for all phases of the mental and motor train- 
ing of the children, with proper time for each feature. The 
plan presented (see page 49) is typical of German methods 
in this respect. In America the gymnasium is usually incor- 
porated in the school building. There are advantages in both 
ideas. 

The idea of placing the gymnasium and the sanitary ac- 
commodations in buildings detached from the school room 
structure has had advocates in the United States, and in Can- 
ada the plan has been carried out in isolated instances by an 
arrangement indicated by plan A, page 49. Another sugges- 
tion is shown in plan B page 49, where the gymnasium and 
playground are in a space between the wings of the building. 

In school yards, not primarily intended for playgrounds 
for general use, not a great deal of apparatus is required. 
There should be swings, teeter boards or ladders or both, 
perhaps a giant stride ; and where there are primary children 
material for them to play with, such as toys, building blocks 
and a pile or box of sand. It is always advisable to have ap- 
paratus that can be fastened up out of the way, or locked, or 
in some way kept from being used in other than designated 
hours. 

If the school yard is large enough to be a small play- 
ground, or a part can be set off and fenced, then any of the 
simpler playground apparatus is desirable. 

As a rule school boards do not allow much money for 
playgrounds or yards and these necessary places have to 
be fitted up gradually with the use of the teachers' ingenuity 
and self-sacrifice. But a good deal can be accomplished by 
making a modest start and then keeping slowly but steadily 
at the process of adding to the equipment. The children will 
help as soon as they become interested; it depends largely 
on the teachers how soon that is. 

In the Indianapolis public schools the plan was adopted 
two years ago of buying first the apparatus that could be used 
by the greatest number of children with greatest benefit. As 
funds permitted other pieces were added by purchase or by 
home building. Giant strides were installed first, one for boys 

51 



AMERICAN PLA YGROUXDS 

and one for girls; sometimes two for each. Several basket 
Is were next in order. In the upper grades they were used 

playing basket ball and captain ball, while in the other 
grades they were in great demand for simple tossing and 
catching games. The halls were also used for playing hand- 
baseball. 

Then came the footballs. "We don't run with the foot- 
hall under our arm, but we do kick it, girls as well as boys, 
and then run and try to catch it. The little folks stand in a 
circle and kick a small black rubber football." explained \Y. 
A. Steelier, the supervisor of physical training at that time. 

Tetherball also comes in about this time, so do simple de- 
vices for high jumping and pole vaulting; also teeter boards 
and sand piles for the little ones. Then, if more money is 
available, come stationary horizontal ladders. 

To teachers it may be of interest to know that the equip- 
ment of these playgrounds was the work of each school. The 
school board did not appropriate money for this purpose. 
Its mechanics, however set up the apparatus. 



In a paper presented at a convention of the National 
Education Association (1905), Dr. E. H. Arnold, then presi- 
dent of the department of physical education, urged the need 
for advance planning so that there might be ample space for 
yards around school houses in which there might be neces- 
sary physical exercise, play and games. He used these 
words : — 

"In order to provide such spacious school yards, provision 
for their acquirement should be made long before they may 
be actually used as school yards. Not only years, but decades 
ahead must the sites for school yards and buildings be bought 
by the communities in the districts as yet outlying and unoc- 
cupied. Money so invested will come back with interest to 
any community that tries the scheme, as is evidenced by the 
prices paid for school sites in communities already thickly 
settled. Economy then makes it necessary to buy a lot as 
small as possible. This can be avoided by foresight and 
prompt action of communities that this day foresee a chance 
of rapid growth. 

52 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

"We should demand legislative action to compel commu- 
nities to furnish school yards which can serve the above pur- 
poses (as playgrounds). Communities by law compelled to 
furnish them would have to exercise foresight and acquire 
the sites in such goodly time that the purchase of school 
yards of proper dimensions would not unduly burden the 
community." 

If this ideal is approached, then it becomes possible to 
carry out such a plan as was presented at the same N. E. A. 
convention by Dr. Rebecca Stoneroad, to "choose, plan, 
arrange and adopt plays and games that would form 
a large share of the physical training of the school. This 
requires rare powers of organization and leadership, 
and is most likely to be accomplished in private schools 
with many instructors, few children, large grounds and much 
school time. These are not, however, the conditions of most 
of our grammar schools. Under the ordinary environment, it 
is practically impossible to institute a system of plays and 
games which will include all the children of the school. Since 
this form of physical exercise must of necessity be taken in 
the school yard, .... our opportunities, at least in city 
schools, are greatly limited. 

"School gymnastics, although an artificial form of exer- 
cise, have the advantage over plays and games in our educa- 
tional scheme on account of their practicability. We can give 
daily to large masses of children, in a short space of time, in 
all seasons and under all conditions of weather, with or with- 
out playgrounds, a certain amount of all-round, systematic, 
physical exercise, based upon physiological principles, calling 
into play all the muscles of the body, and so planned and exe- 
cuted as to be of the greatest value educationally. 

"It must be distinctly understood that school gymnastics 
are not recreation ; they are school work. I would never at- 
tempt to substitute such work for the play of recess. Both 
departments of physical education, the plays and games and 
the formal gymnastics, are necessary, and should go hand in 
hand in a perfect system of physical education." 

Desirable equipment and apparatus for school yard play- 
grounds is indicated in Chapter VIII. 



53 




~Jk,*A^un» 



54 



PART TWO 
Organization, Construction and Equipment. 



"The boy without a playground is father to the 
man without a job." — Joseph Lee. 

When a small boy comes a long way to a play- 
ground and quiets the awful pangs of hunger, "fill- 
ing up with water," so that he may stay through the 
supper hour, can any one ask if the playground is 
popular? — Report of Children's Playground League, 
Rochester, N. Y. 

The farmer allows one acre for 150 chickens. A 
city acre 200 by 217 feet may provide a school or 
neighborhood playground for 1000 or 1500 children. 
— Stewart. 

The children's playgrounds rightly belong to the 
city. It is a provident work and is far less costly 
than the reformatory and the juvenile court. — From 
report of Children's Playgrounds Association, Balti- 
more, Md. 

55 



CHAPTER VII. 

IMPORTANCE OF PROPER EQUIPMENT. 

Why Good Material, Well Constructed and Adapted 
to Use to be Made of It is Desirable — Equip with 
Apparatus That Will be Used— Its Relation to "the 
Gang" — Space Economy. 

The right sort of equipment is of course desirable. In 
almost any city that has experimented along this line a supply 
of expensive experience has been acquired. There is no real 
need for others to fall into similar errors. 

One rather common mistake has been to put up apparatus 
that looked good or that seemed desirable in theory, instead 
of installing the material that was known to be serviceable 
and that experience had shown would be put to use. It is 
not wise to equip a playground or gymnasium with fancy ap- 
paratus that seldom gets used. It is always better economy 
to have apparatus wear out than rust out and fall to pieces 
in disuse. 

Another mistake has been to place full dependence on ap- 
paratus "home made." This is usually done because the 
prices of the playground equipment companies seem high — 
too high to meet the small appropriations of money available. 
Committees too often forget the old adage about "penny wise, 
pound foolish." 

Unquestionably some parts of playground equipment can 
be made at home, by local carpenters and blacksmiths and 
others, and give satisfactory results. The point of this refer- 
ence to the matter is that it is well to be sure the "home 
made" method is really the best and most economical in the 
long run. It seems a reasonable business proposition that 
the equipment houses will quote as low prices as they can 
for reliable material, because they expect business and are 
likely to realize how unlikely they are to get continued trade 
if they supply poor material. 

56 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

More than one playground committee has saved five dol- 
lars on a giant stride, let us say, only to lose twenty-five 
dollars a year or two later when the stride had to be elabo- 
rately repaired or replaced. 

Good material, well made, adapted to the conditions un- 
der which it is to be used, and properly installed, is from all 
points of view most desirable. 

But true as this is, it is also true that in some cases the 
made-at-home, temporary, make-shift, cheap equipment 
makes possible a start of a local playground agitation that 
might never come or be long delayed if the agitators waited 
for a more complete and more costly outfit. 



There are just two things to be accomplished by an out- 
door gymnasium, with special reference to "the gang," the 
group of almost-men to be found in city tenement districts 
and on town street corners. The apparatus may be so placed 
in one fenced in enclosure that it can be readily and effectively 
controlled and so destroy the influence of the gang by such 
control ; or it may be scattered in different parts of the play- 
ground so that the gang doesn't want to use it. By the first 
method the gang or the neighborhood group, to use a softer 
term, are given full opportunity to use the apparatus just so 
long as its members will submit to recognized supervision 
and discipline, and not fifteen minutes longer. By the sec- 
ond method the pieces of apparatus are so widely scattered 
that the gang is put to inconvenience to maintain its organi- 
zation and hence it is not often maintained. The gang is a 
gang only so long as it hangs together. The individual mem- 
bers of most any gang are often, perhaps usually, exemplary 
young men so long as they are by themselves. The change 
for the worse comes when the units are grouped and the bad 
elements mingle. 

Apparatus well planned is an economizer of space. There 
is no better way to provide for large numbers of children. 
Eighteen boys want an acre lot in which to play a single 
game of baseball. Eighteen boys can be kept busy on a lot 
18 by 20 feet if it is equipped with the proper apparatus and 
an instructor is at hand. 

57 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

An outdoor gymnasium or playground that is to be used 
at night (and for the benefit of the men such places will be 
mostly used after dark, after working hours), must be well 
lighted. Well lighting an outdoor space is not always such 
an easy matter as a novice might suppose. Putting up a lot 
of lights is not the whole idea. Centralized arc lights have 
been found by experience to yield better results than scat- 
tered smaller lights. That is, the arc lights should be put up 
in groups of two or four, more or less according to local con- 
ditions, in such locations that the light will be shed evenly 
and brightly on the grounds to be used. Small lights scat- 
tered all over the lot will not usually provide satisfactory il- 
lumination anywhere. The grouped arc lights may be sup- 
plemented by smaller lights at otherwise dark spots if de- 
sired. 



The problem of what sort of apparatus and equipment 
is practically desirable is important. Joseph Lee has written 
on this point as follows, with special reference to the full 
grown playground that is more than just a make-shift: 

"Besides the schoolyard, two other kinds of playground 
must be provided, preferably combined at the same point — 
the outdoor gymnasium and the ball field. These should, if 
possible, be combined with one of the schoolyard play- 
grounds — or with another playground of the same class, in- 
tended for the little children — and also with a space where 
the bigger girls can play really lively, romping, and exciting 
games. They should, in short, be family playgrounds, in- 
cluding benches and bleachers for the fathers and mothers to 
look on. They ought to include, also the school gardens of 
the neighboring schools, and be otherwise, by means of 
flowers and shrubs round the edges, made to look a little less 
hideous than it is generally considered necessary for the city 
playground to look. But, whether thus combined or not, the 
outdoor gymnasium should include a playground for run- 
ning games, and should have in it only such apparatus as it 
is found in practice that the boys actually use — a necessary 
caution inasmuch as the fact is sometimes overlooked that 
apparatus, however scientifically devised, does very little for 

58 







<' :' '_ •„'. , ■ ■ (( . ■ ./■;''■ 


St* 






* 


.' x ' : r X:; 

IHInHH^Hii 


*> : ' tj|'" ' -,^m 





This view shows a frame with apparatus in use of the 
same type as that of illustration "C," page 8. 




Ten thoroughly happy youngsters and two not quite so happy. An 
illustration of the baby swings 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

the development of the children if they cannot be induced to 
go near it. 

"The apparatus which they will actually use is princi- 
pally that in the use of which the element of falling comes 
in — for instance, tilts and teeter ladders, sliding poles and 
coasts, swings, trapezes and traveling rings. Swings and 
perhaps tilts should be left out where boys past the strenu- 
ous age of 10 are being provided for. Besides the sensation 
of falling, what the middle-sized child, especially the middle- 
sized boy, particularly wants is a chance to do stunts — to 
show how great and brave, accomplished and generally en- 
viable he is, and how much more so than any other boy. 
Partly for this reason, horizontal bars and flying rings should 
be provided; vaulting horses are good, and parallel bars per- 
missible; and there should be a reasonably soft space of tan 
bark for tumbling — not merely of the casual and involuntary, 
but also of the more deliberate sort. This affording of an 
opportunity, by apparatus and otherwise, for the perform- 
ance of difficult or dangerous feats — -for doing stunts — is one 
of the chief functions of the playground because such oppor- 
tunity fills a place in the boy's nature the filling of which is 
a necessity not only to the happiness of the boy and the peace 
of the surrounding neighborhood, but also to the boy's true 
education, in which it supplies an essential part. 

"If the boy does not do daring things and does not meas- 
ure himself against other boys in games and contests, he 
will never grow to be a man. The chance once missed will 
never come back to him. That is why our system of educa- 
tion must include an opportunity for the doing of difficult 
and dangerous feats. Tiddledewinks is a good game but the 
real moral food of boyhood is made of sterner stuff. 

"Another thing that a boy must have is games ; and for 
this reason a ball field is an essential part of our educational 
plant — for in America when we say games we mean practic- 
ally the game of baseball, with football looming up as its au- 
tumn counterpart. The necessity of games is, first, because 
the standard of effort and of attainment reached by boys in 
their games is higher than is held up for them, or can suc- 
cessfully be held up for them, in any other pursuit. The dis- 
cipline is severer than can possibly be elsewhere attained." 

59 



CHAPTER VIII. 

APPARATUS FOR THE PLAYGROUND. 

What is Needed — Some Lists — Ideas of Cost — 
Various Appliances That Have Been Found Good 
and That Will be Used. 

There are so many types of playgrounds and so many 
sets of local conditions that only suggestions can be given in 
such a presentation of information as this chapter contains. 
There is practically no limit to the amount, variety and cost 
of apparatus that can be put into a playground. The follow- 
ing lists and illustrations indicate something of the wide 
scope for the equipper's selection and the possible elaborate 
outfit for which good use may be found. 

On the other hand a very serviceable outfit may be put 
in for as little money as $50 and be made to serve several 
hundred children. Of such nature is this equipment which 
is used in a vacation school yard in Providence, R. I. : 

Three-bar horizontal and vaulting bar with gas 
pipe bars of graded heights, one bar of which may- 
be adjustable. Supporting posts of chestnut or 
locust wood. Should not cost over $10. 

Ten-foot double swing frame with triangular ends 
braced and two swings, or one swing and a pair of 
rings. Cost $10 to $12. 

Children's six-foot swings with 2 or 3 canvas 
scups for little children to swing in, or even to 
sleep in. Should be in a shady spot or have an 
awning. Cost not over $12. 

Seesaws ; wooden horse 33 inches high with two 
14-foot boards. — Two or more should be provided. 
Cost $4 to $6 each. 

Sand-box or boxes. May be long and narrow 
rather than square, which, according to Providence's 
experience, gives greater available play space. 

Basketball goals. May be placed on buildings or 
trees, but where these are not available temporary 
stands should be provided, as illustrated in Chapter 
XIX. 

An outfit of this sort may be installed for $50. 

From this very elementary list it is possible to go to the 
limit of one of the Chicago South Park playgrounds where 

60 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

all necessary apparatus and equipment for men, women and 
children was installed at a cost of approximately $4,000, two- 
thirds to three-quarters of this expense being for pipe frames 
which can generally be built locally, following the specifica- 
tions of the architects or those who furnish the apparatus and 
equipment, as they understand conditions of use. 

Roughly speaking, it is possible to equip satisfactorily 
an average playground and outdoor gymnasium, with mate- 
rial for all necessary work, using manufacturers' goods, for 
from $500 to $1,000. These figures are, of course, only sug- 
gestive. Any of the concerns making a business of equipping 
playgrounds will gladly provide estimates and detailed infor- 
mation. 

The approved equipment for school yard and municipal 
playgrounds in Philadelphia, with cost, is as follows, the ap- 
paratus being listed in the order of usefulness to the greatest 
number according to the approval of the supervisor of the 
department: 

For School Yard Playgrounds. For children under 
six years. 

Sand bin 10x30 ft.; cost of frame $15; frame with 
uprights to support awning cost $35 ; awning cost 
$15, sand $15. 

Sand buckets and shovels, five dozen to a play- 
ground; cost $1.07 a dozen for both. 

Bean bags, 5x5 in. weighing 4 ounces each, 5 
dozen to a playground ; cost 60 cents a dozen. 

Low benches, 1x4 ft., one dozen to a ground; cost 
$2.25 each. 

For children six to twelve years. — 

Giant strides, 1 for girls, 1 for boys, consisting of 
16 ft. 4 in. of steel pipe, 8 ropes with 3 knots each, 
each rope having at its upper end 1 foot of chain; 
cost $25 each. 

Horizontal ladders (2) adjustable in height from 
4 ft. 6 in. to 6 ft., made of wood with supports 
either wood or pipe frame ; cost $30 each. 

Swings with 4 seats each (2) made of gas pipe 
frame with manila rope, 9 ft. high ; cost $40 each. 

Tether poles (4) made of gas pipe pole with 4 
wooden paddles ; cost $4 for complete tether set. 

Basket balls (4) ; cost from $2.75 to $4 each. 

Playground base balls (2 dozen for the season) 
soft ball regular size with light bat for the boys 
and paddles for the girls ; balls cost $6 a dozen. 

Teeter boards (2) for the smaller and younger 
children 6 to 7 years old; boards 13 to 14 ft. long on 
supports 20 inches high ; cost about $5 each. 

6l 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Jumping ropes, 2 dozen short and 2 long ropes 
for the season. 

For the Municipal Playgrounds the approved plan 
calls for a shelter house or pavilion with toilet 
arrangements, storeroom and if possible shower 
baths ; a wire fence around the grounds with a 
hedge or shrubbery on the inner side; a running 
track between the girls' and boys' sides with facili- 
ties for jumping and an open space about 60x150 ft. 
for miscellaneous games. 

For girls and young boys, apparatus is needed as 
just outlined for the school yard outfit with the 
following additions : traveling rings, swinging rings, 
seat swings (2) 12 feet high with 4 seats each; 
giants strides (2) ; tennis courts (2) when feasible. 

For the older boys the following apparatus is 
needed; traveling rings, swinging rings, horizontal 
bars (2) adjustable for height, 1 full sized base ball 
diamond and 2 smaller ones ; 2 tennis courts when 
feasible. 

The foregoing details concern the equipment approved 
for Philadelphia school and municipal playgrounds, the plan 
being followed wherever possible. 

To shed further light on what sort of apparatus is made, 
the following drawings are presented. These are all standard 
pieces of apparatus, in actual use in playgrounds. 




Lack of room sometimes prevents a frame to occupy much 
ground space. In New York City vacation schools the hexagon 
shape is used, with apparatus attached on all sides, with good re- 
sults. This frame may be made of wood or iron. 



62 




63 




A smaller frame to fit a more restricted space, showing 
the apparatus in use. The opportunity to climb ladders and 
slide down poles is appreciated by the children of both sexes, 
although the illustration shows boys only. This frame is at 
Germantown, Pa. 




In this drawing is shown a long lasting type of swing 
frame, simple and safe. Additional sections can be put 
in place as desired. The triangular construction of the 
frame obviates the necessity for deep foundations, the 
pipe frame being secured to a plank buried one foot in 
the ground. 



6 4 




Every small boy and girl approves the see saw, whether in a 
playground supplied by a city or in the yard of a new house where 
the carpenters have left their planks and saw horses handy. In the 
manufactured see saw, shown here, the plank does not slip off at 
awkward moments, but is fastened at the center to the support, so 
it cannot turn to the side nor hit the others. 







A simpler form of see saw, used at home as well as in 
school yards. 



65 




66 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 




-,r*r 



- •' v; ^ S: 










The merry-go-round is full of fun for the children and good to 
look at for the older folks. It will keep a lot of children busy at one 
time. Invented for playground purposes by Tehurdore Worth, for- 
merly superintendent of parks at Hartford, Conn., this is at once 
the most expensive simple piece of apparatus and the greatest 
economizer of space. Eighty children have been known to use it at 
a time. It can be operated in a space 20 feet square, thus allowing 
5 feet per child. 




t£f~*a*«<zs 






The Circle Bar suggests interesting possibilities at once. It may 
need an attendant to make sure its use is not abused but it is desir- 
able piece of equipment. 



67 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 




This is a useful outfit for a school yard or for a 
private back yard, where space is limited or there are 
not many children to use it. A boy at home with a chum 
or two can get a great deal of fun and real benefit from 
this combination. 




A modest equipment for a small playground is indicated above. This 
type is common in Boston neighborhood playgrounds. In this combina- 
tion six short and six long swings and six teeter ladders are provided. 
Often a desirable addition to this equipment is made in the form of two 
or more see saws. 

68 



CHAPTER IX. 

A RECREATION CENTER FOR A TOWN. 

Gymnasium, Playground, Baths, Athletic Field — 
May Have Small Beginning and Grow Systematic- 
ally — Estimates of Cost. 

J 

By William L. Coop. 

There are indications that the leading spirits in many 
towns of moderate size are considering some public means of 
gymnastics or recreation ; not, to their own minds, clearly 
defined. To offer a progressive and comprehensive plan that 
can be started at a moderate cost and added to as circum- 
stances permit, is the object of this chapter, which illustrates 
and describes a gymnasium and playground suitable for a 
town with a population of from one thousand to five thousand. 

The gymnasium building, which is the focal point of the 
scheme, is shown in the perspective and in the plans. The 
center or body is 40 x 70 feet, two stories high and a basement 
under the rear half. This latter may contain the heating ap- 
paratus for the building and the baths. On the main floor is 
shown the entrance or administration room which controls 
the entrances to the entire building, including the wings and 
the playgrounds. This should also be the social room, the 
megaron, or gathering room ; it should have a cheerful fire- 
place and tables with books and magazines. In some places 
the public library might be in this room in charge of the same 
attendant. 

In the rear of the entrance room are the bath and locker 
rooms, arranged to connect either with the hall above, or the 
wings, and with the playgrounds, used in warm weather. If 
this central building is built first, the hall above, 40x70 feet, 
could be fitted as the gymnasium, the equipment being as 
shown in the plan of the right wing, which has the same 
dimensions. 

69 




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S3 

PQ 



R 

s 

o 
c 

o 



70 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Later the wings might be added and the apparatus trans- 
ferred to one of them and the hall used for social gatherings 
or separate gymnasiums for women and men. The indoor 
swimming pool, while perhaps the last to be added, will be 
the first in popularity all the year round. 

Mill or slow-burning construction should be used for all 
the buildings, both on account of cost and lessened fire risk. 
The central building might cost from $1.50 to $2.00 per square 
foot, or from $4,000 to $7,000 according to materials used, cost 
of labor, etc. If well designed it will present an artistic ap- 
pearance. The wings should cost much less, no excavation 
being necessary. These could be built of field stone or boul- 
ders, up to the window line. Cement concrete would be well 
adapted to the rest of the building, except, perhaps, the upper 
story, which could be shingled on the sides. Flat roofs would 
be economical and desirable for many reasons. 

The bath and locker rooms may be connected by a passage 
to either gymnasium or the swimming pool, and the entrances 
are always under the control of the attendant at the desk. 

An indoor gymnasium would be very incomplete provi- 
sion for recreation in the summer time, and as land in small 
towns is not usually high priced the gymnasium should be 
made the playground center, using the same baths, lockers 
and facilities for control. 

The playground plan is suggestive and could be modified 
to suit space or other limitations. It should provide the three 
main features shown, i. e., a playground for girls and women, 
separated and screened from public view by shrubbery ; an 
athletic field for boys and men, and an outdoor swimming pool 
for all to use. 

The girls' playground is shown equipped with outdoor 
apparatus, for directed gymnastics ; a wading pool and shaded 
sand-boxes for little ones, and a track for hoops or small 
tricycles, with a grass plat in the center to tumble on. The 
shaded pergola, around the gymnasium, is a resting place for 
mothers from which they can watch their little ones. 

The boys' side is provided with apparatus suitable for the 
larger boys and grown ups ; provision being made for ath- 
letics. The running track may be as large as space will permit, 



71 



D 




=nl 



72 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

generally 220 yards or eight laps per mile ; the oval center 
being available for football. 

The swimming pool provides a substitute for the "swim- 
min' hole," now in many towns being taken from the boys 
and used for other purposes. The pool should have a high 
fence or concrete wall and dressing rooms at the sides. It 
can also be connected to either the men's or women's locker 
rooms, and these used as dressing rooms. 

A playground of this type under intelligent supervision 
should increase the physical and general health of the young 
people of any town and amply repay the investment. 

The following estimates show the cost of carrying out 
the foregoing plan, except the land, whose cost can be told 
locally : 

Central Building — 40 x 70, 2 stories high, 

with basement under rear half $4,000 to $10,000 

Right Wing — for Gymnasium, one story . . . 2,500 to 5,000 
Left Wing — for Swimming Pool, one story 2,000 to 5,000 
Both buildings to be built in slow 

burning or mill style of construction ' 

with brick or concrete walls or flat 

roofs. 

Indoor Gymnastic Apparatus 500 to 1,000 

Indoor Swimming Pool — of cement concrete 400 to 500 

Lining pool with porcelain tile 800 to 1,000 

Dressing Rooms — for swimming pool (40) 200 to 400 

Lockers for baths (200) . 600 to 1,000 

Shower Baths — including partitions and 

plumbing 300 to 800 

Heater — for baths and building 400 to 600 

Outdoor Playground Apparatus 500 to 1,000 

Outdoor Swimming Pool — (60x120), con- 
crete 1,800 to 2,400 

Excavating for swimming pool 400 to 500 

Outdoor Dressing Rooms (36) 150 to 250 

Cinder Track — (15 feet wide) — including 

excavation per running foot 3 to 5 

Grading, fencing and shrubbery, according 

to locality and amount of work done. 300 to 1,000 

73 



CHAPTER X. 

PLAYGROUNDS IN WASTE PLACES. 

Unused Roofs and Backyards — Dumps — Made 
Land — Recreation Piers — The Sky-scraper Idea 
Where Land is Expensive. 

One way to get a playground is to buy some acres of land 
in the suburbs of a city, equip it and get the children and oth- 
ers to go to it. An example of this policy can be found in 
many cities. There is an example in Toronto, Canada, where 
there are "fine athetic fields in the suburbs, but they are a 
long way off. Lots of little fellows in the center of the city 
and congested districts who have gone out to those places 
have been so tired that they have not been able to enjoy them- 
selves, and then they have had to trudge all the way back 
, home again. v We ought to have, right in the heart of the city, 
r even if land is valuable, small playgrounds properly equipped 
and supervised where the children can play to their hearts' 
content." 

The foregoing words are quoted from an address by J. J. 
Kelso, the Toronto superintendent of neglected and depend- 
ent children, before the members of the Empire Cub and the 
Guild of Civic Art. The facts outlined apply to any city; car- 
fares do not grow on every family bush or the small boys 
might ride, where there are means of transportation. But even 
so, not a great many normal boys are inclined to waste half 
an hour or more of precious time getting to play space, and 
as much more getting back. It is not the "spirit of the age." 

So let us consider another way to meet the situation. 
This is to plant a playground right in the midst of the peo- 
ple who ought to have it. This is the way, the very best way, 
if real good is to be done. To be sure, as the quotation has 
just expressed it, land is valuable, but so, too, are young lives 

74 




"Cities and societies are beginning to realize that back yards fre- 
quently have some attraction for boys, but also that they have their 
limitations in the variety and quantity as well as the persistency of the 
game. These yards in large cities in most cases have the sunlight, more- 
over, during only one or two hours each day." 




A cheap and useful form of shelter, being a movable sheet of canvas, 
one end secured to the beam on the left and the other end drawn over 
the support as shown at the right of the illustration. 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

and future efficiency valuable — too valuable to be blighted 
unnecessarily. 

But there are many instances where even expensive land 
is not to be had and often costs a really prohibitive figure if 
purchasable. Modern ingenuity finds a way around. Nowa- 
days most buildings have roofs that are pure waste space, 
space that ought to be kept busy. This fact is being recog- 
nized by the real estate people in the large cities and the roofs 
are being used for various forms of open air purposes, which 
is an excellent sign of the times in one sense. In another 
sense it points to the day when even roofs will not be avail- 
able for playgrounds. 

At the present moment the roofs are available. A roof of 
a factory in a crowded part of a city could easily become a 
breathing spot and more for the people in the neighborhood, 
at no great cost to anybody. A school house roof is an 
equally good place. Even the roof of a tenement or apartment 
house can become a private playground, at least for those 
who live there. 

All these plans have been carried out in various places. 
The number of roofs properly equipped and made use of 
ought to be multiplied ioo times. Modern city school houses 
are now built with the intention of using the roofs for play- 
grounds and open-air gymnasiums. There is no reason why 
private houses and all hotels (as some are already) should not 

be planned in the same way that is, houses with flat roofs. 

But even a small house with the familiar pitched roof can 
have some space for open air use (and outdoor sleeping, per- 
haps) if only a roomy piazza opening from an upper story, or 
a flat roofed ell fenced or screened and floored for use. 

Backyards offer a real field for extension work. Thous- 
ands of backyards, small and unattractive as many of them 
are in cities, can nevertheless be made of service as play- 
grounds without much trouble, little expense and a vast deal 
of real pleasure and physical as well as social and moral ben- 
efit to those who should be users thereof. 

"In the city of New York children play on the roofs of 
the schools, in the cool basements, and in the smoothly paved 
school yards. They have outdoor gymnasia in vacant lots 

75 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

and one under the end of the Brooklyn bridge. Several of 
the great piers, at which steamers unload their cargoes, have 
upper stories roofed over and open on the sides for the cool 
air from the water to blow through ; making fine playgrounds 
that are filled with children and their mothers from the hot, 
narrow streets nearby, all summer long." 

In Boston America's first formally named municipal out- 
door gymnasium or public playground in our modern con- 
ception of the idea was made from a strip of undesirable land 
along a river's bank, and has since been in charge of the 
Park Department. Of course there was the historic Boston 
Common, which like other commons dating from the colonial 
period was designed to be use as a sort of playground ; that 
is a place for public recreation. Boston Common has always 
been partly devoted especially to playground purposes and is 
today in such degree that an effort was made recently to have 
the space devoted to that purpose doubled. Generations of 
boys have found here their main chance to play baseball and 
to some extent football, quoits, etc., without supervision in 
any form since it was set apart in pre-Revolutionary days 
for boys to play ball on, "and even a British general could not 
find it in his heart to deny them that privilege. 

"But twenty years ago the city of Boston made a play- 
ground that was more than an open lot on which boys might 
play ball. A celebrated firm of landscape architects laid out 
a running track nearly a quarter of a mile long, and built a 
house in which were baths and lockers for the boy to keep 
his clothing in ; and Dr. Dudley A. Sargent, Harvard College 
gymnasium director, who had not forgotten what he liked 
when he was a boy, designed iron frames with ladders, 
swings, teeters, climbing ropes and poles; in fact, an outdoor 
gymnasium. At the other end of the pretty park on the 
Charles River, where this outdoor gymnasium was placed, 
they made another playground for girls, with frame with ap- 
paratus, merry-go-rounds, swings, and lots of things that 
girls like. There were sand boxes for the little ones, and a 
very pretty running track with grass in the center to tumble 
on, and sheltered seats for mothers to sit and watch them; 



7 6 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

all surrounded with beautiful flowering shrubs and tall 
bushes."— (W. L. Coop.) 

This is a general description of the credited birthplace of 
American playgrounds that included means for physical 
training, all growing out of efforts by far-seeing individuals 
who realized what could be produced on a lot of almost waste 
land in one of the then most unattractive parts of a large city. 

Another plan, proposed several times but not yet carried 
out, is the erection of a several storied structure mainly of 
steel frame and much glass, in which could be all sorts of 
means for recreation and the physical welfare of individuals 
of all ages, all the year round. One such plan called for a 
seven-story structure, each floor devoted to a special purpose 
and the roof screened and made serviceable also. In pleasant, 
warm weather the windows opened would make it practically 
a great recreation center in layers — a fully equipped play- 
ground, gymnasium and school of health stood on end. The 
idea is good enough to be given a real trial in some large 
city where land costs more money than city treasuries want 
to spend. 

Twelve acres of new playground land was acquired in 
one year in Boston by filling in a salt marsh, making waste 
land useful. This method has been extensively adopted in 
that city for many years. 

In remodeling an addition of one of the buildings of the 
Roosevelt Hospital in the center of the hospital grounds in 
New York City, in the summer of 1908, provision was made 
for a roof playground for children under treatment in the in- 
stitution. 

A plan was proposed by the charity workers to have a 
state law passed in New York, that tenement houses there- 
after constructed should have the walls carried three feet four 
inches above the roof line on all sides so that it might be 
conveniently made a safe place to play. 

"We are apt to think of the area covered by a house as 
if it had been annihilated," says Joseph Lee. "We must learn 
to realize that there is just as much of the earth's surface as 
there was before, only it is a little higher up." 

77 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

"The time is rapidly coming when it will be an 
advantage to be born and grow up in the city, 
because it is more healthful, more social and more 
ideal than the country. Tenements will have play- 
grounds in their back yards, where there are such, 
or on the roofs. We will do by the municipal play- 
grounds what we have already done with our build- 
ings and streets, i.e., use each surface several times. 
The school building has grown from a capacity of 
50 pupils to a possible 5000. The school yard will 
soon follow in its wake, growing upward story by 
story and on the top, extending over the whole 
building once, twice, or perhaps three times. And 
every playground — through cooperation — will have 
such supervision as shall guarantee that the children 
are free to play in any wholesome way, but are not 
free to bully and maltreat the little ones ; and no 
playground shall be as some are at present, mere 
stopping places for the lazy and vicious." — Luther 
H. Gulick. 

In Chicago 150 acres of land mostly under water or 
useless was reclaimed by filling with dredged material from 
the lake bottom and thousands of loads of dirt from other 
sources until Grant Park grew to a useful area of over 200 
acres now beginning to assume the ornamental and service- 
able aspect of the Twentieth Century park and recreation 
center. 

An interesting experience is in Fitchburg, Mass., while 
this chapter is being written, showing the difficulties that 
may come to putting a waste place into service even when it 
is set aside for legitimate service. 

Playground interests have often tried to get disused and 
abandoned cemeteries which might be made into play places, 
but legal complications and sentimental objections have usu- 
ally prevented such plans from being carried out. 

Experience in towns and cities that did not look far 
enough ahead teaches that an early duty of every local play- 
ground organization should be to secure accurate and detailed 
information of every desirable site, including the useless 
places such as swamps, marshes and dumps. It is feasible 
to get information of lots of land likely to be vacant for many 
years which might be leased for playgrounds in crowded cen- 
ters, where no other possibility of a recreation spot presents 
itself. There are such lots in most large cities, even in such 
as Xew York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston, which are 
tied up for building purposes by various conditions. 

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CHAPTER XL 

DETAILS OF PLAYGROUND ORGANIZATION, 
CONSTRUCTION AND EQUIPMENT. 

An Elaboration of the General Information Con- 
tained in Preceding Chapters. 

By Arthur Leland. 

Now is the opportune time for the smaller of our large 
cities to acquire proper provisions for the play of children. 
Land is comparatively cheap, with values steadily rising. The 
large cities, Boston, Chicago, New York and others, have 
shown the absolute need of playgrounds ; such a need that 
land in some of these cities has been acquired at a cost of a 
million dollars an acre. But it is difficult to bring the lesson 
home to the smaller city. 

It has been estimated that the public parks and play- 
grounds of New York City are worth as vacant real estate 
$1,200,000,000. The original cost of these sites was $66,456,- 
000. This is good evidence that delays are expensive. 

The writer aims to make practical suggestions, gleaned 
from his experience as supervisor of playgrounds in Louis- 
ville, St. Paul and Denver showing the needs and the best way 
of organizing a system of public playgrounds in the smaller 
of our great cities. A number of the problems that come to 
those who have to do with these centers of social and physi- 
cal activity will be considered and, we hope, considerable 
practical light shed upon the questions that are apt to perplex 
and handicap. 

THE FIRST ESSENTIAL FEATURES of a 
playgronud in the order of their importance are : 

For Boys Seven to Sixteen : Space to be used as 
baseball diamond, football field and skating rink 
according to the season, giant-stride, shower-baths, 
space for athletic games, basketball, track and field 
athletics, traveling rings, trick rings, turning pole, 
trapeze, swings, see-saws, parallel bars, ladders and 
sliding poles. 

79 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

For Girls and Small Boys : Swings, giant-strides, 
see-saws, space for basketball and other games, lad- 
ders and sliding poles, traveling rings, trick rings, 
shower-baths, turning pole, parallel bars, etc. 

For Little Children : Shade, sand boxes, big 
wooden blocks the size of bricks, little wagons, 
shovels, pails, baby swings with leather seats and 
space for kindergarten games. 

Attractive grounds, shade, toilet rooms and organ- 
ized games are necessary in order to hold the child- 
ren. The recreation park idea of the playground is 
the ideal but its full completion requires four to ten 
acres of ground. 

The playground should be built with a view to 
future enlargement, upon a block which has vacant 
land opposite or adjacent. The playground must 
have a baseball diamond. The space given to it in 
the plan is a very meagre allowance, only a three- 
quarter size diamond, upon which only boys under 
sixteen can play, using balls which are not very 
lively. The rest of the playground must be protec- 
ted from the batted balls by a high fence. Occa- 
sionally balls will go out in the street. 

A playground without a baseball diamond will be 
used almost entirely by girls and boys in kilts dur 
ing the baseball season. Any vacant lot within 
ten blocks, where baseball can be played will be 
more attractive to the boys. 

In a suggested plan the ground is graded level 
with the exception of the baseball diamond, which is 
lowered two and one-half feet, draining to the cen- 
ter where it is connected with the sewer. The 
banks on the sides make possible a skating rink in 
the winter and make baseball much safer in close 
quarters. Outside the baseball diamond is an eighth 
of a mile running track; then a grassy slope to the 
upper level. The borders around the grounds are 
a few inches higher than the play space and covered 
with turf. Lilacs are grouped in appropriate places. 
Along the front of the grounds is a buckthorn 
hedge, while one side has a hedge of lilacs. 

The entire playground must be enclosed by a high 
iron post or wire fence. A cheap, efficient fence 
can be made of five foot standard field wire fencing, 
attached to pointed two inch iron posts, set fifteen 
feet apart with three strands of barbed hog wire on 
top. Its ugly lines can be hidden by training vines 
upon it. 

If the playground fund is very small, do the 
grading the first year, putting in the apparatus in 
the order of importance. The gymnasium frame is 
the most expensive and least important of all. 

Make the baseball diamond. Plant a few trees 
and part of the hedge and shrubs ; sow some grass 
around the borders. Do just enough landscape 
gardening to suggest what you intend to do, and 
finish it later. 

And don't leave out the fence. 

80 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

The writer ran playgrounds three years in St. 
Paul, where the playground committee do not be- 
lieve in fences. Experience says it can be done, 
but every piece of apparatus must be taken in every 
night. Much valuable time must be spent in watch- 
ing to keep the playgrounds "closed when they were 
shut." 

LOCATIONS : — The playgrounds should be loca- 
ted in that part of the city where juvenile crime is 
greatest. Ihe effective radius of a small play- 
ground is not over ten blocks. Organized games 
will increase the effectiveness of the playground a 
number of blocks in each direction. 

THE FIRST WORK:— The city engineer's office 
will give a plat of the land showing the exact size, 
grades of the streets, etc. If the land is much be- 
low grade and filling is scarce, it can be made a 
sunken garden with catch basins and sewer con- 
nections so that it drains to the center. If it is on 
a side hill, it should be graded so that the gymna- 
sium and space for children's games is level. The 
baseball diamond and running track should be one 
to two feet below the rest of the grounds, sloping at 
a grade of four inches to a hundred feet to a point 
near the center just outside the infield of the base- 
bail diamond, where a catch basin is located and 
connected with the sewer. The man-hole should 
have two covers, one to drain the field in the sum- 
mer time and the other without holes to be used 
when the field is flooded. 

After the land has been graded, a water system 
should be installed. Street washers should be placed 
about ioo feet apart over the space which is to be 
watered. Care must be taken not to have any of 
these project above the surface in the baseball field, 
as they will cause accidents. 

A hose connection can be put inside the manhole 
in the center. Home plate can be put over a box 
in which a hose connection is placed. 

PLAYING SURFACES :— For the baseball field 
a good closely cropped turf is best and is practicable 
in a clay or loamy soil. If the playground is built 
of sand, six or eight inches of black dirt must be 
spread over it in order to make a lawn. 

Three or four inches of coarse cinders, well 
packed and covered with one inch of cinders which 
have been run through a half inch screen will make 
a hard surface over a sandy bottom. If equal parts 
of screened cinders and good clay are mixed to- 
gether, dampened, spread one inch thick over a layer 
of coarse cinders and well rolled, an ideal playing 
surface will be made for the athletic field, the run- 
ning track or any part of the playground; such a 
mixture packs well, is springy, does not get dusty in 
dry weather and can be played on in the rain. 

If there is a grass athletic field, the baseball run- 
ways and other much used parts of the diamond 
should be made of clay and cinders. About two 

81 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

parts of coarse sand and one part of good clay 
mixed give somewhat the same effect as screened 
cinders and clay, and if available can be used to 
good advantage for running tracks and walks. 
Coarse cinders rolled and covered with two inches 
of spent tan-bark make a very artistic and appro- 
priate surface for the basketball court and little 
children's playground. 

Under the gymnasium, parallel bars, turning poles, 
jee-saw and jumping places, fine, soft sand should 
be spread about a foot deep. Such a covering re- 
quires no care to keep it soft and it does not blow 
away. The giant-stride and swings must have ver> 
hard surfaces under them or in a few weeks great 
holes will be worn in the ground which will be 
filled with water every time it rains. A strip of ce- 
ment side-walk about three feet wide under the 
swings works like a charm. About the best thing 
for the giant-stride is a bed of screened cinders 
mixed with clay spread eight inches deep and 
packed solid. 

POINTS FOR COMMITTEES :— The play- 
ground movement is so well advanced that it is not 
necessary for the city which has none, to go through 
the painful process of experimental playgrounds car- 
ried on by private organizations and maintained by 
private subscriptions. Such experimentation is apt 
to turn out with indifferent success. I have in mind 
the experience of St. Paul. The woman's club con- 
ducted a playground for two summers; on account 
of the lack of supervision it became a loafing 
ground for toughs at night who undid any good 
which the ladies did in the daytime and later 
when municipal playgrounds were planned it was 
thought best not to let anyone know about previ- 
ous efforts. 

The movement has reached such headway that it 
can be taken up immediately as a municipal matter; 
for example, the playgrounds in Denver were the 
result of one of the Park Commissioners, W. H. 
Downing, reading an article in the "Review of 
Reviews" upon the Chicago South Park play- 
grounds ; he induced the mayor to read the article 
which so impressed him that he made an appropri- 
ation of $5000 to be expended for playgrounds by 
the Board of Park Commissioners. 

The South Park System was the result of the 
Chicago investigation of the Charlesbank out- 
door gymnasium in Boston, this leading to the desire 
to emulate and excell. After study and investiga- 
tion the present plan was submitted to the people 
and they voted to give the commissioners power to 
issue bonds for $5,000,000. 

However, every city may not have a mayor like 
Denver or Park Commissioners like South Chicago 
or Denver. The people want playgrounds when 
they know about them. You may have to make 
them ask the administration for them. The best 

82 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

way to operate is to make an organization, the par- 
ent of the movement. The woman's club, civic 
league, juvenile court association, social settle- 
ment, board of directors — almost any charitable or 
philanthropic organization which can be interested 
will do. A joint committee selected from each 
ought to make a fine working body. The Commer- 
cial Club, Board of Trade, Chamber of Commerce, 
local improvement associations, ought to be in- 
terested and represented on the committee. 

Public sentiment must be created. The newspa- 
pers will be glad to devote space to well written 
articles to be published with pictures showing what 
is being accomplished. Take some city about the 
same size as your own for example. You must 
show the needs of playgrounds in your city. Have 
committees tabulate the amount of play space 
available in different districts. Washington, D. C. 
has been successful in such investigation. Find 
out also how the children of different parts of the 
city spend their spare time when out of school. 
Secure figures showing the differences in juvenile 
crime in crowded districts, and the parts of your 
city which have plenty of play space. Publish all 
the figures in the Sunday papers and prepare a 
pamphlet for general ciruculation. Have the paper 
publish editorials on play and the need of facil- 
ities for play. Quote Pres. Roosevelt's views on 
playgrounds, (see "American Gymnasia," March, 
1907.) Have prominent people write letters to be 
published in the papers. When the public is 
warmed up to the subject secure a big free public 
lecture on playgrounds by Luther H. Gulick or 
Jacob Riis of New York, Joseph Lee of Boston, 
or W. H. Routzahim of Chicago. If you cannot get 
any of these, the American Civic Association, Phil- 
adelphia, has a department of lantern slides which 
one of your local speakers can use in preparing a 
talk. See the trade unions and political clubs. 
Have as many different interests see the city offi- 
cials as possible. They will do most anything for 
votes. If you get enough votes back of playgrounds 
they will appropriate money for them. (As an ex- 
ample : Political ward leaders in Boston find that 
if they advocate playgrounds and gymnasiums for 
their wards that their personal prestige is much 
advanced. One result is that the mayor is per- 
plexed how to distribute the favors of this sort.) 
If there is no board especially interested and if 
the sum appropriated is small probably the best way 
is to have the appropriation placed in the hands 
of the controller or auditor to expend as the play- 
ground committee recommends. This is the way 
the fund was handled in St. Paul the first year. As 
the movement becomes permanent, either a sep- 
arate department must be created as in Los An- 
geles, which has a Board of Playground Commis- 
sioners appointed by the mayor. This board con- 
sists of three women and two men. 

83 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

In order to make the playgrounds permanent in 
case a separate board is desired, the city charter 
must be amended making an appropriation for 
playgrounds ; when this is done it would be well to 
give the juvenile court the power to appoint the 
board and thus keep it out of politics. 

St. Paul secured an amendment to the charter 
appropriating $10,000 a year for the playgrounds. 
This was voted on by the people and carried largely 
on account of the electioneering done by the 
school children who took circulars home asking 
their big brothers and fathers to vote for the play- 
ground ammendment. However, they did not know 
that the city charter forbids the creation of any 
new board or a provision covering it could have 
been included in the Charter amendment when it 
was up for public approval. Finding it impossible 
to have a separate board created as the charter 
could not be changed again for two years, they de- 
cided to ask the Park Board to take the official 
responsibility of the playgrounds, they to be re- 
tained by appointment of the mayor in an advisory 
capacity. This was embodied in an ordinance and 
an advisory committee of three appointed who ex- 
pected to have charge of the playgrounds, using 
the Park Board to put the official stamp on their 
proceedings. Now the Park Board were not par- 
ticularly interested in playgrounds and declined to 
be official figure-heads. Nearly every advice of the 
committee was a bone of contention. Every mat- 
ter concerning money was referred to the Supt. of 
Parks with power to act. Neither the committee 
nor its employed officer, the supervisor of play- 
grounds, had any power. The friction was so 
strong that the supervisor had to spend much of 
his time keeping peace between the board and the 
different members of the committee. Any plan 
of work the Superintendent of Parks didn't ap- 
prove of was held up. Two years of this nearly 
gave all concerned nervous prostration. 

The park board is best fitted to handle the 
question of construction and acquiring land. The 
school board can best handle the operation of 
the playgrounds, which is an educational feature. 
However, take the board which is the most inter- 
ested and has the fewest political strings to tie to 
it. If politics are in danger of spoiling the string 
it may be best to handle the playgrounds as is 
done in Louisville, Ky.. The Recreation League 
is a philanthropic organization made up of inter- 
ested people who contribute money each year. They 
elect an executive committee, one of the members 
of which is a member of the Board of Park Com- 
missioners. The League raises enough money an- 
nually to pay the salary of a supervisor of play- 
grounds, the only official position paying enough 
salary to make it a political plum. The Park Board 
furnish land in the small parks and appoint a 
man and woman instructor at each upon recom- 

84 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

mendation of the executive committee. They also 
make an appropriation for supplies which are 
purchased on approval of the playground members. 

The South Park Commissioners, Chicago, are 
an exceptional non-political board as they are ap- 
pointed by the judges of the district court. Play- 
grounds and park work items are equally im- 
portant and practically identical. They delegate 
the supervision of athletics and gymnastics to a 
director who is an experienced teacher of physi- 
cal training. 

Denver is evolving a good system which ought to 
work anywhere. The Board of Park Commission- 
ers have employed a supervisor of playgrounds, who 
is responsible for the expenditure of the play- 
ground fund subject only to the general oversight 
of the Superintendent of Parks and the board. He 
attends to details of grading, distribution, equip- 
ment, selecting and training assistants, operations 
of grounds as well as having general supervis- 
ing of athletics and gymnastics. 

The way land will be secured will depend 
upon the city. The best way is by a bond issue 
as it is a comparatively easy matter to secure a 
referendum vote for playgrounds. For example : 
the experience of South Chicago in securing 
$5,000,000. Louisville secured a bond issue of 
$90,000 for its purchase of a playground of fifteen 
acres in the heart of the city. The school children 
went to the park from all over the city near elec- 
tion day and made a demonstration which helped 
carry the referendum. The land for two other 
park playgrounds in Louisville was donated and one 
was made in an old cemetery. 

I assisted in engineering a movement to issue 
bonds for $40,000 to purchase a park playground 
in Lexington, Ky. The political boss there was 
president of the street railroad. I secured figures 
from the Louisville parks showing the increased at- 
tendance at the parks when they were made into 
playgrounds. He gave me his support. The news- 
papers gave their support and the people voted the 
bonds. A park system has since been created from 
this beginning. 

In St. Paul no bonds could be issued so we 
begged, borrowed and bought the land out of a 
$10,000 a year appropriation. < 

Another method of securing land is by local as- 
sessment. Minneapolis secured a tract of 40 acres 
near the centre of the city for a park and play- 
ground by assessing the benefits over a radius of 
ten blocks. 

Denver has a city government which is showing 
how to make the city beautiful. Its mayor is alive 
to every good thing. Park and boulevard exten- 
sion are all the rage. Denver has four park dis- 
tricts ; the mayor appoints a commissioner from 
each one. They have power to secure land for 

85 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

parks in each district by purchase or condemnation, 
limited only by the protest of 25 per cent, of the 
property owners in the district, which cover from 
70,000 to 200,000 lots. The cost is assessed upon 
the beneficial property. 

TYPES OF EQUIPMENT :— Swings, see-saws, 
giant strides, horizontal and parallel bars are the 
safest, most useful and the cheapest articles of 
playground equipment. The open air gymnasium 
with ladders, travelling and trick rings, trapeze, 
climbing and sliding poles, give children oppor- 
tunity for development of arms and trunk and serve 
the psychological purpose of attracting attention to 
the playground; the effect is impressive. How- 
ever, I have found that the interest in the gymna- 
sium apparatus wears out. Where only a limited 
amount of money is available, the out door gymna- 
sium frame may be dispensed with. 

A merry-go-round, designed to be used in the 
playground without danger of accident, would be a 
most valuable feature. Jumping standards, spring 
boards and playground slides are also very popu- 
lar. The teeter ladders and revolving see saw, or 
"flying Dutchman," give lots of fun, but are best 
adapted to large children ; and then accidents are 
apt to happen if not closely watched. 

In passing judgment on playground apparatus, the 
following points should be considered : 

(a) Is it safe? Will it run itself, or will some 
one have to stay by it all the time to keep the chil- 
dren from accidents? The teeter ladder and "flying 
Dutchman" are examples of apparatus interesting 
but somewhat unsafe. 

(b) Does it appeal to some fundamental instinct 
so that it will be interesting after the novelty wears 
off? climbing poles and ladders, for instance. Any 
pieces of apparatus which includes the art of falling, 
swinging, or gliding, conquering time and space, 
seem to take the place of foreign travel to the city 
child, and are intrinsically interesting. The hori- 
zontal and parallel bars, other gymnastic apparatus, 
jumping standards, etc., depend upon competition 
and teaching for their interest. 

(c) Simplicity. The less adjustability the better 
from an administrative standpoint. Have different 
sizes of apparatus for children of different ages. 

(d) Expense. 

(e) Durability. In all probability the city would 
be liable for accidents occurring from breakage. 

Playground apparatus which can stand 365; days 
each year, of hard service, during the rains of 
spring, alternating with blistering sunshine and 
alkali dust, together with dry heat for the rest of 
the year, is hard to find. Last year two complete 
gymnasium equipments of a standard make were 
mirchased for use in the playgrounds of one city. 
It was found necessary this year to replace all the 
rope and wooden parts with the exception of the 

86 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

ladders which are preserved by varnishing and 
dressing every few weeks. 

During the first part of my experience as su- 
perior of playgrounds we didn't have the money to 
purchase ready-made apparatus, so I had to make 
it. After acquiring the habit it goes against the 
grain to pay money needed lor land or teacher, for 
equipment which is not just what is wanted, when 
more satisfactory apparatus can be made at two- 
thirds the cost. 

MATERIALS. — Wood and rope should be dis 
pensed with as far as possible in the construction of 
playground apparatus, and galvanized metal wire 
cable and galvanized chain should take its place. 

FRAMES. — The uprights and frames for all ap- 
paratus can best be made of 3-inch standard wrought 
iron pipe, threaded together into standard "T's," 
and "L's" and set in a five to one mixture of con- 
crete. It is the custom of equipment houses to make 
the frames for swings and the other miscellaneous 
playground apparatus of 2-inch pipe, which requires 
special fittings and braces itself. The 3-inch pipe 
method of construction is, I think, cheaper and more 
satisfactory and requires little if any bracing. 

SWING FRAMES.— The uprights should be 13 
feet long, threaded at the top. Drill 1-2 inch holes 
respectively 6 inches and 12 inches from the bot- 
tom of the pipes, and insert through them 1-2 inch x 
12 inch iron rods. The uprights are set 4 deep 
on a bedding of concrete or a large rock and sur- 
rounded with 18 inches of concrete. The top pipes 
are each 11 feet 3 inches long, joined with wrought 
"T's" and "L's." Each section of this length ac- 
commodates three swings, which occupy a space of 
18 inches each, and are placed 18 inches apart on the 
pipe. A frame of this size accommodates children 
both large and small, requires no bracing, and if 
kept painted, will last indefinitely. 

ROPES. — The only material I can recommend 
from experience is 3-4 inch, four-strand manila 
rope. I shall make some wire cable swings as an 
experiment for use this year, but am afraid the 
common cable will be too stiff to swing straight and 
too small for the children to take hold of ; the flex- 
ible cable will be all right until the small outside 
wires begin to wear away and then there will be 
danger of cutting the children's hands. 

SECURING SWING ROPES TO PIPE.— In 
order to secure the swings to the pipes, a number of 
special castings are required, which I will describe 
later. In the upper ends of the rope a wedge screw 
made of lead cast around a 2 1-2 inch lag screw 
with the head cut off, is imbedded, and then the rope 
is pulled into the center of the hook. At the lower 
end of the rope, a casting comes through the swing 
board extending 21-2 inches above it, and serving 
to hold the rope which runs through it and is held 
firm by a wedge screw, as well as protecting the rope 

87 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

from the feet of the children and strengthening the 
swing board, which is made of I inch x 6 inch x 18 
inch oak. I find a light board so strengthened 
results in less serious injury if it hits the children. 

SEE-SAW FRAMES.— The frame calls for three 
uprights made of 3 inch x 4 feet 6 inch pipe with 
the bottoms drilled as for the swings and set in con- 
crete so the top of the board will be 31 1-2 inches 
from the ground. The top of the frame is made 
of two pieces of galvanized pipe 3 inches x 9 feet. 
This gives space for five see-saw boards. 

BOARDS. — The boards are made of good solid 
oak 2 inches by 10 inches by 14 feet, with the ends 
rounded, and 3-8 inch by 10 inch bolt put through 
to keep the ends from checking. 

BEARINGS. — Two pieces of plank 2 inches by 9 
inches by 3 feet are bolted on the under side of the 
see-saw board. Two castings just like the top part 
of the rocking joint are inverted with the ends 
resting on the under plank and then bolted into 
place ; care must be taken to have the smooth side 
of the pipe up in order to insure a perfect bearing. 

GIANT STRIDES.— Most of the giant strides on 
the market have too soft and too narrow ball races. 
As a result ttjey run hard. The heads are usually 
placed too low down (14 feet above ground), so the 
swinger comes back to ground too soon. The ropes 
with which they are suspended and the little rope 
ladders are constantly wearing out. I have de- 
signed a giant stride head having two ball races, the 
lower one 4 inches across and the upper one 1 1-2 
inches across, using 3-8 inch balls. The bracings 
are cast in tool steel and the complete machine fits 
over a 4 inch pipe. For the upright I have been 
using one piece of black pipe 4 1-2 inches by 18 feet, 
with a piece of pipe 4 inches by 4 1-2 feet pounded 
into the 4 1-2 inch pipe a distance of one foot and 
secured there by hot pins. The bottom of the 4 1-2 
inch pipe is drilled for 1-2 inch by 24 inches, each 
one foot apart. Then the upright is bedded in con- 
crete 2 1-2 feet by 4 feet. 

THE ATTACHMENTS.— Instead of ropes I use 
galvanized 3-16 inch "triumph" chain, extending 
from the bearing at the top. Instead of rope and 
wooden ladders I have been using one made en- 
tirely of leather straps, which I find wears better and 
gives fewer injuries to the children. Am making 
one of 3-inch canvas webbing which will be much 
cheaper if it wears well. 

HORIZONTAL BARS.— Horizontal bars can be 
placed each side of the end of the swings by set- 
ting in a piece of 3 inch pipe 12 feet long. A fixed 
bar is more satisfactory than a moveable one ex- 
cept for class work in vaulting. A cheap bar can 
be made of steel shafting 1 1-4 inches in diameter 
and 7 or 8 feet long, galvanized. This can be firmly 
secured to the uprights by a special casting which 
clamps over the 3 inch pipe and into which a 1 1-4 
inch pipe is threaded. 

88 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

All of the equipment houses make very good 
moveable bars, which only need galvanized to make 
them suitable. 

PARALLEL BARS.— Parallel bar tops should be 
made of galvanized metal. Steel or brass tubing 
I 1-2 inches in diameter and 10 feet long, with the 
ends rounded, make good tops. The ends may be 
rounded by tapping a thread on the inside, plugging 
the end and then filling with lead or brass and filing 
the ends round and smooth. Two inch galvanized 
pipe uprights, with 8 inch flanges on the bottoms 
should be used. Each of these should be set in a 
bed of concrete 2 feet by 18 inches, so that the bars 
will be 15 inches apart for boys and 18 inches apart 
for men. The usefulness of the bars will be in- 
creased if the pipe uprights are set in at an angle 
so that the bottoms are 6 or 8 inches farther apart 
than the tops. 

BABY SWINGS. — In the playground which does 
not have a separate enclosure for very small chil- 
dren there is always danger when they get near the 
swings. After having a number of them knocked 
down by the descending boards, I decided to make 
them some swings which would not cut them if they 
did ge hit. The frame and fittings were the same 
as for the other swings, except that the top pipe 
was only 6 feet above ground, and 5-8 inch rope was 
used. The seats I made of two pieces of sole leather 
riveted together. These proved the most popular 
feature of the playground and enabled us to keep 
little tots away from danger. 

LAWN SWINGS. — My experience with swings 
made of wood, in which several persons sit opposite 
each other is that they are not adapted for play- 
ground use on account of the danger of accident. 

FRAMES AND FITTINGS.— For home con- 
struction purposes it is the writer's experience that 
in erection of frames all the necessary rigidity can 
be secured by using standard "Ls" for connecting 
uprights with the top pipes, which run the shortest 
way of the frame. The top pipes which run length- 
wise of the frame may be clamped to the other top 
pipes by a special malleable clamp. Gymnasium 
frames for men should be made so that the top 
pipes are 16 ft. above the ground; for women 14 
ft. and for children 12 ft. 

LADDERS. — Of all wooden apparatus for use on 
outdoor frames, ladders are the most durable if they 
are frequently varnished. Ladders, both horizontal 
and inclined, made of galvanized iron pipe are much 
more satisfactory than those made of wood. Two- 
in. pipe for the sides and i-in. pipe, cut 18 in. long, 
for the rungs, and threaded right and left, is the ma- 
terial used. For the inclined ladder the lower ends 
should be provided with flanges to be set in concrete. 
The upper ends are clamped to the frame by a spe- 
cial casting which also has holes for a pair of sliding 
poles. 

89 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

SLIDING POLES should always be made of 
metal. Wooden sliding poles are positively danger- 
ous. Galvanized 2-in. pipe is the best material I 
know of. Poles should be always placed opposite a 
ladder so that children can climb up one side and 
slide down the other. Handles should be provided 
for them to take hold of when going over the top 
of the frame. 

CLIMBING POLES.— A very good climbing pole 
is made of i 1-2-in. galvanized pipe attached to the 
frame at the top by putting a bolt through the pipe 
and through the hole in the upper part of the rocker 
which is used in making a rocking joint. The bot- 
tom should extend below the surface of the ground 
about a foot and should be placed so as to swing 
around in a concrete basin about 2 ft. long and 10 
in. wide, which gives movement without the danger 
of interfering with other apparatus. Climbing ropes 
wear out very quickly. Climbing poles are much 
better for playground purposes. 

TRAVELING RINGS.— Traveling and trick rings 
should be made of malleable galvanized iron. 
Leather and rubber coverings are not good for out- 
door use. Stirrup shape is best for traveling rings. 
They are attached to the pipe by a special fitting 
somewhat like the swing joint only swinging with 
the pipe. Flexible 5-8 in. wire cable galvanized is 
the best material to be used in suspending all sorts 
of rings. Traveling rings should each be provided 
with a swivel in order to prevent the cable from 
untwisting. 

TRAPEZE. — A cheap efficient trapeze can be 
made by putting a piece of i-in. galvanized pipe 28 
in. long, threaded at both ends, into galvanized "Ls". 
File off the threads, saturate the inside of the pipe 
with soldering acid, put a 5-in. flexible cable through 
the pipe, leaving the ends long enough to give suffi- 
cient length for fastening above. Fill the pipe with 
solder and lead combined and the cable will be firmly 
imbedded in the pipe. It should be suspended from 
the pipe above with swing joints. 

ROPE LADDERS.— I know of no rope ladder 
which will stand for more than nine or ten months' 
constant use. One of the galvanized pipe and one 
of galvanized steel cable that I constructed should be 
useful for ten years or more. Pieces of galvanized 
1 -in. pipe were cut 20 in. long and a 1-2 in. hole 
drilled, 1-2 in. from each end; then the ends of 
the pipe were filed round and smooth, plugged with 
paper and the wire cable run through them. Short 
wire nails were driven through the cable inside the 
pipe. The inside of the pipe, cable and nails were 
saturated with soldering acid and the hole filled with 
one-half sodder and one-half lead. 

Note : Any points not made clear in this chapter 
will be gladly illuminated by the writer, who may 
be addressed in care of the publishers of this book. 



90 



PART THREE 

Special Points for Supervisors and 
Instructors. 



One person can take care of children on a play- 
ground while it would take eight or ten policemen 
to see to them on the street. — H. E. Downer. 

Schiller, to whom Gross gives the credit for being 
the first German exponent of the physiological theory 
of play — that it is surplus energy, accounted for play 
by calling it an aimless expenditure of exuberant 
strength, which is its own excuse for action. 

A boy cannot play games without learning sub- 
ordination and respect for law and order. — Joseph 
Lee. 

Organized play of some sort, play under control, 
is the only possible solution, for organized play is 
freer than free play. — L. H. Gulick. 

Many practical questions for the solution of 
which we have been looking to the church and school 
will be found to belong to the playground to solve. — 
S toy an Tsanoff. 



91 



CHAPTER XII. 
PERSONAL HINTS TO SUPERVISORS. 

How to Make Work Known — Reports — Assistants — 
Training Helpers — Pedagogy of the Playground. 

By Arthur Leland. 

It is somewhat of a task to secure a man with experience 

and technical ability who is willing to supervise playgrounds 
during the three summer months. When the playgrounds 
continue the year round, as they do in many places, it is not 
so difficult to find and hold competent supervisors. 

The supervisor must attend to business details, train his 
assistants, and carefully supervise their work. When he is 
employed by a committee who have little practical knowledge 
of the operation of playgrounds, the work of outlining needs 
and methods falls largely upon his shoulders. However, he 
should educate the committee up to his ideas, and have them 
do most of the planning, doing nothing without their ap- 
proval. 

The successful supervisor will do his best to be on terms 
of good fellowship with the city and sporting editors of all 
the local papers, for without their aid the success of the 
movement will be seriously impaired. The playgrounds are 
a public enterprise ; the people have paid taxes or subscribed 
money for them, and should be kept informed of their prog- 
ress and needs. Well written news of the playgrounds should 
be taken to the city editors for publication in the Saturday 
or Sunday editions. They will usually publish all the photo- 
graphs you can bring. Don't be too modest about the play- 
grounds ; no one will know anything about them unless they 
are told. "Have something doing," and let the public know 
about it. 

The Supervisor's Report should contain a record of at- 

92 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

tendance, record of work done, games played, policy of the 
work, moral benefits, and any other items of interest. 

Play Directors. — After finding a well trained and tactful 
supervisor, the task of securing and training assistants is not 
a difficult one. The theory of the kindergarten is very similar 
to that of the playground, so kindergartners will be found 
well trained in playground principles, and essential to success 
if girls and small children are desired in the playground. 
Some kindergartners are able to supervise the play of the 
boys through the help of larger ones, but as a general thing, 
boys over ten should be put in charge of young men. High 
school graduates and college boys, having experience in cap- 
taining base ball, foot ball, and other athletic teams, generally 
have the qualifications necessary for success as directors of 
the boys' play. Success depends on personality. No amount 
of technical training will suffice if love of children and play 
are absent. 

Method of Training Assistants. — Before the opening of 
the season, call the assistants together and outline the work 
to be done, the general methods to be used, and a few funda- 
mental principles to be observed. It will be found advisable 
to continue these meetings about every two weeks, discussing 
at each different problems as they arise, and training the 
assistants in the methods of teaching various branches of the 
work. Put your assistants on their own resources. Give 
them ample room to develop their own methods and ideas. 
The supervisor should visit each playground at different 
times of the day often enough to carefully observe the work 
being done, and suggest any changes or additions which will 
add to the efficiency of the playground. When any difficulty 
arises, it may be necessary to spend a great deal of time at 
one playground until it is settled. 

Playground Pedagogy. — The fewer rules the better: Fair 
play, gentlemanly language and behavior, no smoking, are 
enough. Try to create public sentiment in favor of good 
conduct, and the children will help carry the playground with 
you. Keep everyone busy doing something. Make the chil- 
dren as useful as possible. Make someone responsible for 
each game given out. Appoint leaders in mischief as assist- 

93 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

ants in caring for the younger ones. Never suggest a new 
game to the children until they get tired of an old one. If 
any boy gives continual trouble, turn him over to the park 
guard or police only as a last resort. In some cases, residence 
transferred to an industrial school may be advisable for him. 
The playground will cure most cases of toughness caused by 
environment; natural toughness needs more vigorous treat- 
ment. 

(See also chapter 34.) 




Giant Stride. 

(See chapter 19.) 



94 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE MATTER OF DISCIPLINE. 

A Normal Boy Approves the Intelligent Grown-up 
Who Makes Him Mind — Keeping Children Inter- 
ested — Doing Nothing Gracefully. 

That there must be no stern discipline and harsh penalties 
in playgrounds is a principle often publicly approved by 
advocates of such establishments. There should be no evi- 
dent supervision, the students tell us. The children should 
be encouraged and permitted to carry on spontaneous, unre- 
stricted play without any conspicuous interference or ordering 
by elders. 

The theory is good and the purpose of the theorists is 
not to be questioned, but the practical experience of super- 
visors and instructors has demonstrated that as a rule such 
wireless telegraph methods are unpractical, and in the long 
run not good for any interests concerned, least of all good 
for the children. 

For the success of the work as a whole, for the benefit of 
the instructors, for the preservation of property, and still 
more vital, for the best good of the children themselves, 
discipline is absolutely essential and must be known to exist 
in every playground, gymnasium and recreation center of 
any type. 

It need not, should not, be unreasonable, tyrannical, 
harsh voiced, scolding, nagging discipline ; but it should be 
the intelligent, kind but firm, prompt and consistent show of 
authority, whenever necessary, that makes an impression and 
reduces the chances of too frequent enforcement of penalties. 
A person capable of being a teacher, a leader, of boys and 
girls ought to know the psychology and philosophy of dis- 
cipline — from the elemental point of view of the children 
themselves, rather than from books and school desks only. 

It is a startling surprise to some instructors to find out 
that boys as a class respect a teacher who enforces discipline, 

95 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

who does not always let them have their own way. Boys of 
adolescent age are looking for ideals, for heroes, for models ; 
and they want the real article, strong and reliable. 

Did you ever have the experience of hearing a boy tell 
you seriously how much he liked you? Why? Because you 
made him mind and do what you wanted him to do, when 
you wanted it done and the way you wanted it, not once in a 
while but all the time. 

To be sure not every boy, not very many boys, express 
such thoughts. That is, if they do grasp the principles they 
are not able or inclined to tell their elders spontaneously what 
they think. Actions say more than spoken words sometimes. 

Once you have convinced your boy (or your boys) that 
you are sincere, fair-minded, know what you w r ant and how 
to get it, he will give you his loyal co-operation and hearty 
good will. He is apt to more than hold up his end of the 
tacit agreement. You will find yourself at times working hard 
to live up to his ideals. 

Every normal boy of this age, about 12 to 15, feels just 
this way at some period of his development, while he is test- 
ing and experimenting with life as it comes to him in details. 

Most positively it is not doing justice to boys anywhere 
to let them have their own way, unless that way is right. 

And it does still more harm to the efficiency of the play- 
ground, the gymnasium, whose director allows unwholesome 
freedom through a mistaken idea of pleasing his boys or with 
the thought of increasing his own popularity. Lasting popu- 
larity comes by consistent, intelligent discipline equally and 
impartially enforced. 



Over the door to the playground shelter in one ground 
is the sign, made by one of the girls, "Fair and Square." In 
another one of the young men spent a couple of hours paint- 
ing an ornamental design in which were the words "A Square 
Deal for All." The application of the phrase came when one 
girl occupied a popular swing over the allotted period and de- 
clined to give it up to the next in line. Then the instructor 
pointed to the sign and asked quietly, "Are you giving Lottie 
a square deal?" The swing was surrendered without delay 
or objection. 

96 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 



Such arguments usually work with boys or girls if a 
tactful instructor makes the application. 

How does discipline work out in another respect? Does 
it take too much of the instructors' time and energy? In one 
playground in which the season's attendance was over 67,000 
the number of cases of discipline was 45 of enough seriousness 
to be recorded. Of these 43 were for smoking, profanity and 
repeated disobedience ; the other two were for a serious breach 
of propriety by two large colored girls. This particular 
playground was Waterview Park, Philadelphia, where discip- 
line played an important part in the success of a long season. 
An experienced teacher will know the value of keeping 
children interested, giving them something worth thinking 
about. This is a valuable aid to discipline. 

Off-hand talks and personal hints, tactfully given, on 
personal hygiene, on matters of what to eat and what not to 
eat, when and why not ; importance of good air day and night, 
sunlight and its value, proper clothing for health, care of the 
skin — these things have far and deep reaching results when 
presented to the young people in the playgrounds. A play 
ground should be more than a place to play or "kill time" ; 
it should be a real school of health. A competent instructor 
can easily do a great deal to make it so. 

Keep all hands busy — even if you keep them busy doing 
nothing gracefully. 

Repose is almost a lost art. We may teach it in the play- 
grounds. Allow and encourage certain relaxation and make 
that a part of the game or exercise. Get complete body and 
mental rest for even a few minutes and much good has been 
done. "Practice what you preach." Don't "fly all to pieces" 
every few minutes in nervous explosions and then wonder 
"why the children behave so." Energy and the showing of it 
is a child's right, but wasting energy is not usually necessary. 



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A Type of Playground. 

97 ' 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SUGGESTIONS TO INSTRUCTORS IN MUNICIPAL 
PLAYGROUNDS AND GYMNASIUMS. 

Classification of Terms — Plans and Object of the 
Work — Indoor Program — Outdoor Activities — Ob- 
j ects — Nomenclature. 

The following directions and suggestions were prepared 
for the instructors of the South Park System, Chicago, by 
the director of gymnastics, athletics and playgrounds. A few 
of the items would need to be modified to meet conditions 
in other localities, but all the instructions are worthy of study 
by those who are doing playground teaching or who desire 
to do so. 

By E. B. DeGroot. 

CLASSIFICATION OF TERMS.— In communicating 
with each other, and when talking of your work to the public 
in general, you should avoid confusion of names and terms in 
describing or qualifying your department and its activities. 
I therefore request you to speak of this department as the 
"Department of Gymnastics and Athletics." Speak of the 
man in charge of this department as the "Director" and of 
yourself as the "Instructor of Gymnastics and Athletics" 
(Men's or Women's Department) in a particular park. Add 
to this that the Department, the Director and the Instructor 
are of the South Parks, and subordinate to and under the 
direction of the Superintendent and the South Park Commis- 
sioners. 

In speaking of the activities of the gymnasium, athletic 
and play field, avoid the use of such terms as "physical cul- 
ture," "physical training" and "physical education." 

The term "physical culture" means either too much or 
too little for our use. In the best sense, the term means the 
training of the muscular and neural systems to the highest 

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AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

point of delicate adjustment and co-ordination. Culture means 
a refining, finishing and polishing process of training and is 
only applicable to adults. Cultural subjects are seldom, if 
ever, taught to children. In common use, the term "physical 
culture" is applied to many phases and theories of training 
that would not adequately represent your work. 

The terms "physical training" and "physical education" 
are dignified and ample but may properly refer to a wide 
range of pedagogical purposes, as well as to forms of gym- 
nastics and athletics. 

While much of your work will be physical training or 
physical education, in the best sense, you should not claim 
too much for it. You will thus avoid giving offense to insti- 
tutions where physical training in all its phases is carried on 
with a high degree of perfection. 

In speaking of your work, then, use only such terms as 
gymnastics, athletics, plays and games, as the case may be. 
Include under the head of gymnastics all such work as free 
exercise, apparatus work, etc., whether performed indoor or 
outdoor. 

Include under the head of athletics such competitive exer- 
cises as running, jumping, pole vaulting, etc. 

The difference between plays and games is that games 
have definite program and conclusion, while plays are more 
individualistic and are usually without definite program and 
conclusion. 

PLAN OF THE WORK.— The first instructions issued 
to the instructors concerning the plan of work to be pursued 
follow : 

In assuming charge of the gymnasium and gymnastic 
activities of the park to which you have been assigned, you 
at once become a public servant. It will be your duty to 
constantly strive to conduct your work for the benefit of the 
greatest number, and not a few of those who make use of your 
department. 

To successfully fill your position it will be necessary for 
you to act and work in a manner to indicate to those about 
you that your horizon and resources are broader than any 
particular system of gymnastics or athletics. It is highly 
important that you bring to bear upon your work all of your 

99 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

expert knowledge of kinds of exercises, their orders of pro- 
gression and their physiological effects ; but of greater impor- 
tance is the fact that you regard your work as an instrument 
with which to build character and good citizens. 

Whether we wish it or not, the gymnasium and the ath- 
letic field are schools of character, but the kind of character 
formed in these schools will depend in great measure upon 
the instructor in charge. Children, especially, will imitate 
you closely in your play, habits of speech, manners and attire, 
and you will have every opportunity to sow your personality 
broadcast among hundreds, and possibly thousands of chil- 
dren. In the gymnasium where you come in close contact 
with the children, try to call them by name. Take an interest 
in all that they do and say ; praise every worthy attempt, and 
especially all improvement on their part. Do not preach to 
them. Take care to be scrupulously polite. 

The instructor should never appear in the gymnasium 
otherwise than neatly dressed, cleanly shaved and with hair 
well cared for. On the athletic field, and in the practice of 
games in the gymnasium, the instructor should praise every 
tendency of a boy or girl to sacrifice himself or herself for the 
good of the team. Show them that this is the only way to 
succeed — by unity of action. If you can develop this spirit 
you have laid the foundation of co-operation, politeness and 
good morals. You have taught the fundamental lesson of 
thoughtfulness for others. Regard for the rights of and 
respect for others will follow as you enforce the rules of your 
games and insist on fair play. 

Play, yourself, frequently, and set the pace for vigorous 
action, skill, courage, regard for rules and a sportsmanlike 
temper in accepting defeat or victory. There is, perhaps, no 
other way in which a more powerful influence may be ex- 
tended. Keep in mind, then, that we are public servants, 
employed to serve the public as experts in all that our profes- 
sion implies, and that we are engaged in a work which, if 
properly conducted, is perhaps better calculated to raise the 
standard of good citizenship than any other single agency in 
the hands of public servants. 

Details of the plan of work which you are to pursue will 
be suggested to you from time to time. At the outset you are 

ioo 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

to work for general, rather than special, results. You will 
have two major problems to work out, viz. : the handling of 
large numbers of children of the school age in the daytime, 
and the handling of a large number of working boys and girls 
and adults at night. 

INDOOR PROGRAM.— For the indoor gymnasium the 
following program for general use, is suggested : 

Begin all classes with a few minutes of tactics or march- 
ing evolutions. Do not carry these beyond the "school of the 
company." Make use of the exercise simply to bring about 
order, esprit de corps, to teach obedience to authority and 
instant execution of orders. Follow the marching evolutions 
with mat and tumbling exercises (for boys), or corrective 
free exercises for both boys and girls. Apparatus work or 
dancing steps might be introduced next. At the conclusion 
of this work the floor should be cleared of apparatus and the 
remainder of the session spent in plays and games. The latter 
should, perhaps, occupy at least half of the session. A similar 
program might be followed in the evening for the working 
boys and girls and adults. The work should, however, be of 
a more advanced order. There should be less, perhaps, of 
marching evolutions and more of apparatus work, dancing 
steps and tumbling exercises. Team games of a high order 
will be found most useful and interesting. 

In all of the above work conduct your exercises with an 
order of progression — from the simple to the complex; from 
the exercise of short duration to long duration. Tumbling 
exercises should be largely natural gamboling, rather than 
strictly acrobatic, and each exercise should be well within the 
possibility of accomplishment of the average boy and girl. 
Exercise taught on the various pieces of apparatus should be 
safe, easy of execution and of short duration when formal class 
work is in progress. Difficult exercises should be taught 
informally and out of class, when the instructor can give his 
undivided attention to the individual. 

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES.— In the out-of-door gymna- 
siums and playgrounds there will be less of formal and more 
of informal gymnastics, athletics, plays and games. 

General : — Give your playground work direct relation to 
the temperature and time of day. When the temperature is 

IOI 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

high conduct games that do not require great exertion. Hold 
in reserve all of your vigorous games for the cooler days. 
Make use of the apparatus on the cool days and at night under 
the electric light. The early evening hours will be found best 
for training members of athletic teams. A group game scheme 
of conducting your work will be found to fit conditions better 
than any other plan. A great many small groups rather than 
a few large groups should be formed. These may be arranged 
according to age or height, or better still, they may be placed 
in groups representing streets, blocks or squares, in the vicin- 
ity of the playground. The more organization of a simple 
character you attach to your work the better. Make constant 

use of your bulletin board to announce events and results. 

Contests : — Use the contest as a means to two definite 
ends : 

First: A contest wherein individual distinction may be 
gained. The point in such a contest is to develop self-respect 
and self-reliance — to do the thing without the help of others. 
Arrange this form of contest so that as many as possible may 
gain some personal distinction. 

Second : A contest wherein group or neighborhood dis- 
tinction may be gained. The point in this form of contest is 
to lay emphasis upon the relation and responsbility of the 
individual to his playmates, playground and community. The 
wakening of interest and pride in the community in which the 
members of the groups live is the large result to strive for. 

The contests that we have announced for local and inter- 
park meets, tests, and tournaments are based upon the princi- 
ples suggested above. But in the main, only your picked or 
skilled playground patrons will be directly benefited and per- 
manently interested by these events. You should, therefore, 
strive to extend your work by similar means to include every 
patron of your playground. 

Discipline : — Never assume (much less say so) that any 
patron of your playground is "tough," "rowdy" or a "rough- 
neck." On the contrary, assume that every patron is a gentle- 
man or a lady. When handling cases that need the touch of 
a disciplinarian you should show in your own manner and 
countenance the positive qualities of fair play and good man- 
ners which you insist they shall exhibit. Never struggle with 

102 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

obstinate cases but call the police officer if necessary to 
forcibly dismiss anyone from the playground or ball field. 
Don't forget that you are employed to serve as a teacher and 
not as a "bouncer." 

Respect for your physical prowess must be established 
only by a playful grip. 

Care of Apparatus : — The equipment of the playground 
should never be allowed to present an untidy, a disorderly or 
defective appearance. If parts of apparatus become unusable, 
remove the same from sight. If unable to mend or replace 
broken or defective apparatus report the difficulty to the 
director at once. Cross-bar-jump-sticks, poles, shots, balls, 
bats, bases, nets and tools should not only be kept in good 
condition but they should be kept in their proper areas and 
places. To disregard the care of apparatus indicates neglect, 
helplessness or indifference, qualities which spell positive 
failure for any playground worker. 

ACCIDENTS : — When accidents or injuries occur to 
those in your care, pursue the following course of action : In 
case of an injury to any one in your gymnasium, call one of 
the locker room attendants to take charge of the gymnasium. 
Take the patient at once to your office or a quiet room (on 
the stretcher, if unable to walk), and there administer such 
"first aid" as the case demands. Send for the manager as soon 
as you have made the patient as comfortable as possible. The 
manager will take charge of the case at this time and see that 
the patient is sent home or to the hospital where proper med- 
ical attention can be given. Return to your gymnasium as 
soon as possible. 

In case of an injury occurring on the athletic field or 
playground, pursue the same course of action. Make note of 
the name, age and address of the patient, also the cause, 
treatment and conclusion of the case. In caring for the 
patient, keep well within the limits of "first aid" treatment. 
Do not attempt to do too much. Fractures, dislocations, large 
wounds, etc., should receive only first aid treatment in your 
hands. Such cases should be left to the care of a regular and 
legally qualified physician. 

If you are not familiar with first aid methods, you are 

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AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

advised to procure a good manual on the subject and study 
the same. 

OBJECTS : — It is of the greatest importance that the 
instructor understand the objects sought in these gymnasia, 
play and athletic fields, and that all work be undertaken in 
the light of the objects sought. In their order of importance, 
the objects sought are as follows : 

(i) To take children from the streets and alleys and give 
them a better environment and safer place in which to play. 
This will relieve the parents of care and anxiety — as well as 
truck drivers, street car men, policemen and others who are 
involved in the care of children. 

(2) To encourage working boys and girls and adults to 
spend their idle hours in a wholesome environment and away 
from questionable amusements. 

(3) To encourage both children and adults to give atten- 
tion to personal hygiene — exercise and bathing chiefly. 

(4) To furnish wholesome amusement for adults and 
others who do not participate in the activities of the gym- 
nasium, athletic and play fields. 

Plan your work, then, and carry it forward with the well- 
defined idea that you are striving, first, to attract both chil- 
dren and adults to your gymnasium, play and athletic fields ; 
second, that after you get them there you must interest and 
hold them until the habit of frequenting your gymnasium is 
established ; third, that you do all you can by means of your 
gymnasium program, athletics, plays and games, to "set up" 
the frame, encourage bathing, teach skill, courage and a 
wholesome respect for the rights of others. 

NOMENCLATURE :— The term "playground" may 
properly be used as an inclusive term to describe gymnasiums, 
ball-fields, swimming-pools, playgrounds, etc., but for the 
purpose of describing various play spaces and aspects of 
playground activities the following distinctions are made : 

Playgrounds are the spaces set apart for the exclusive use 
of children not more than ten years of age. These spaces are 
equipped, primarily, for free, undirected play, and not for 
formal gymnastic or athletic work. The heights, sizes, and 
character of apparatus used are adapted to the ages and play 
interests of the children involved. 

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AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Gymnasiums are spaces set apart for the exclusive use of 
adults and children more than ten years of age. There are 
separate gymnasiums for men and women, both indoors and 
outdoors, and the men's outdoor gymnasiums have running- 
tracks. The outdoor spaces are equipped with apparatus de- 
signed to serve the free, undirected play interests of a vast 
number of people of all ages, and at the same time enable the 
instructors to carry on a plan of more formal gymnastic and 
athletic work. 

Gymnastics refer to exercises of a more or less formal 
nature. In the practice of these exercises the usual end in 
view is a given corrective or physiological effect upon the 
body. 

Athletics refer to a group of competitive exercises of a 
vigorous nature, such as running, jumping, vaulting, etc. The 
objective point is not so much the effect of the exercise upon 
the body as the expression of the physical powers in tests of 
speed, strength, skill, and endurance. 

Plays refer to the spontaneous running, jumping, romp- 
ing, use of apparatus and toys by children, and the individual- 
istic, informal exercises and "play-games" of the older 
children and adults. 

Games refer to a formal arrangement of plays having a 
definite program and conclusion, such as tag games, team 
games of baseball, basketball, volley ball, etc. 



c 



J 




ios 



CHAPTER XV. 
SUGGESTIONS TO INSTRUCTORS IN GENERAL. 

There are certain principles that may be adopted and 
applied by directors of physical activity in any department. 
Some of these have been put in writing by Dr. Jay W. Seaver 
in his book "Anthropometry and Physical Diagnosis," from 
which the following are selected as being applicable to play- 
ground teachers : 

Do not permit the self-satisfaction of conceit to spoil your 
ability for work. 

Do not take the statement of anybody as infallible. If it 
clashes with your own idea, examine it and decide who is 
wrong. 

Do not run after everything new and think that the new 
apparatus will make exercise a pleasure and relieve you of 
your work, or the new idea will save you the trouble of 
thinking. 

Do not go through your work in a perfunctory sort of 
a way, but be enthusiastic and full of interest in those with 
whom you come into the relationship of adviser and in- 
structor. 

Be earnest, careful and exact, filled with the spirit of 
hard work, or move on to some less onerous occupation. 

Do not try to find some fault with each person who comes 
under your care, nor continually decry habits that you believe 
to be bad. 

At times you are expected to express yourself freely, as 
when lecturing on any subject, but do not try to pour a lecture 
into the unwilling ears of every one who may chance to fall 
into your hands. You do no good by making yourself ridicu- 
lous. 

Establish a record of honesty and ability and your advice 
will be sought. Integrity is the largest factor in influence. 

Be conservative and at the same time progressive. Ex- 
amine all that is new, but before you adopt it test it by every 
standard that you can bring into comparison with it. Remem- 

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AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

ber that you will probably not discover a great number of 
new truths, nor will you undermine and overthrow many of 
the commonly accepted theories and doctrines that have been 
enunciated in the past. 

Be modest, then, and learn much from others, claiming 
very little as entirely new and your own. 

Be content to work a great deal and claim very little. 
Have a scientific theory as a basis of your work, but be ready 
to amend it at any time. Study your material and you will 
find so many facts to be classified and arranged that you will 
have little time to electrify the world by some universal spe- 
cific. 



107 



CHAPTER XVI. 

MAKING CHILDREN GENERALLY USEFUL. 

Let Them Help in Preparing and Taking Care of 
Playgrounds — Older Children Help the Younger — 
Don't Demand Too Much. 

Not all the benefit to those for whom we supply play- 
grounds comes from the games and exercises. Equal benefit 
can come from general usefulness, — from doing service for 
the common good. Every normal boy and girl is more than 
willing to "help" a respected grown up person. The man or 
woman instructor who is wise will make the most of this 
natural inclination, for the benefit of the playgrounds as well 
as for the training of the children. 

The plan of letting the youngsters of a neighborhood 
clean up a lot of land, a public dump perhaps, to make it 
suitable for a playground, is quite common. This work they 
will do effectively, joyously, with real pleasure, if properly 
guided. The writer witnessed such a cleaning up campaign 
in which ten boys and a dozen girls were transforming a 
triangular piece of waste land into the foundation for a useful 
playground. Singing the very appropriate refrain — 

"Every little bit added to what you've got makes 
just a little bit more" — 
they were gathering here a rusty tomato can, there a dis- 
carded dish pan, over yonder a broken chair back, everywhere 
waste paper and bits of wood, and tossing each remnant in 
piles to be carted away or (culminating joy to the "kids") 
burned in a bonfire on the spot when the work was done. 

Of course this was not work ; it was just as much play 
as any game in the rule book. Still, the men who wanted 
$2.50 a day for accomplishing the same end called it work. 

The following quotation illustrates the point. The quota- 
tion is from a report by Evangeline E. Whitney, superin- 
tendent in charge of vacation schools, playgrounds, and even- 
ing recreation centers, New York City : 

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AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

"A vacant lot was offered too late to get it in order before 
July 9th ; but a good principal and a kindergartner were 
appointed to take charge of the place, and a few supplies 
were sent to begin operations. On arrival they found the 
ground strewn with tin cans and similar rubbish, and ten 
little boys and about sixty girls ready to play. They were 
first organized into working squads, and with rakes, hoes, 
small wheelbarrows and pails, quickly cleared space enough 
for immediate needs. An awning was raised, and with sand 
boxes, toys, swings and games the little folks began to be 
merry in good earnest. The older children in the neighbor- 
hood looked on with envious eyes ; they naturally wanted to 
share in the fun, and promised such good behavior if admitted 
that we could not exclude them. Apparatus was asked for, 
and with it went a gymnast and his assistant, also a teacher 
of basketry. Soon five hundred boys and girls made the air 
daily resound with their happy voices. Such a boon has this 
playground proved to be, that parents have petitioned for its 
continuance during the autumn." 

Another playground director reports a way to let the 
children help keep the ground clean, — free from litter: 

"In almost all the playgrounds the children were formed 
into bands for cleaning the yards, picking up papers, watering 
the sands, etc. One teacher says her boys were organized 
into a police force and were allowed to care for others after 
they had shown they could care for themselves. The teachers 
were very wise in making the children feel that it is a privilege 
to be helpful, and often the reward for faithfulness was being 
allowed to do something for the teacher or to do a piece of 
work which had never been given to others." 

There are other ways to make those who are to benefit 
from playgrounds contribute to their construction, equipment 
and maintenance. The following quotations from a paper by 
Henry S. Curtis, supervisor of Washington, D. C, play- 
grounds, are suggestive of three methods : 

"We got the upper class of each school to make a mechan- 
ical drawing of the school playground showing its dimensions, 
area, number of children in the school, trees or other shade, 
and the conditions of the ground itself. These plans remaining 
in the office of the supervisor serve as the basis for the selec- 

109 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUXDS 

tion of one site or another if a new playground is to be 
opened. It is believed that the making of these drawings was 
one of the best lessons in mechanical drawing that could have 
been given to the children and one the practical value of 
which and the need of accuracy they fully realized. 

"A recognized need in manual training work is to find 
sufficient purpose for the things done, some use for the things 
constructed. We have found it advantageous to have many 
of the steel fittings for our playground apparatus made in the 
manual training schools. Such a use of the product makes 
the work more interesting to the children and makes them 
realize the necessity of doing their work carefully and well. 

"For the last three years the board of education of Wash- 
ington has permitted the children to contribute to the support 
of the playgrounds and the children were invited to hand in 
any amount they or their parents wished to give on a certain 
day. Last year small envelopes were furnished to each child. 
to be handed back with or without contribution as wished. 
The children were told that all this money would be used 
either in the further equipment or the maintenance of the 
school playgrounds. The amount received each year has been 
from S800 to $1,400. Of course there are great dangers in 
such a method which must be carefully avoided. It will not 
do to bring influence to bear or make the children feel that 
they must contribute to the work whether they wish or not. 
It Avill not do to allow it to become the means of exhibiting 
the poverty of children who cannot contribute. 

"One of the most practical ways to train children to be 
good citizens is surely to get them interested and active in 
the promotion of the public good. The public end which is 
most readly and fully appreciated by the children is probably 
the securing of a playground. One of the school playgrounds 
in Washington has been equipped with the proceeds of a 
luncheon which the children gave at the school. I have 
understood that many of the playgrounds of Indianapolis 
have been equipped in this way. Even if the playground 
itself were not an object to be worked for, it seems to me that 
some such work should be undertaken by every school for 
the sake of the social and moral training involved," 

One playground that lacked a shelter got it because the 

no 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

caretaker was a practical carpenter and interested a dozen or 
more of the boys to co-operate in its erection. The playground 
committee supplied the lumber and other material. 

In Boston the school playground director requested the 
sloyd department of the public schools to make dominoes, 
checkers, building blocks, wooden shovels and other articles 
of similar nature. 

The boys can be used to an extent in maintaining the 
upkeep of equipment by splicing ropes, making ball field 
back-stops, marking out tennis courts, etc. The girls will 
help keep things tidy and clean, but the children should not 
be expected to do all the work, nor should their services be 
expected to save a caretaker's salary. Such a method of 
"economy" is not fair to the children, to the man who might 
be earning a living by the aid of a salary, nor to the efficiency 
of a playground work. 





A Common Form of Pole for Climbing. 
'(See chapter 19.) 



Ill 



CHAPTER XVII. 

PLAYGROUND PROGRAMS AND METHODS. 

Schedules of Exercises and Other Interests for a 
Day's Work — Methods Used in Some Cities. 

Section One. 

It is not possible, and certainly not feasible, to map out 
a program to be followed strictly in the conduct of playground 
activity. It is, however, helpful to know what others consider 
the proper arrangement of the various features and interests. 
The following programs or day's orders are merely sugges- 
tive, not to be taken as anybody's short cuts to success. 

First are presented the schedules used in the playgrounds 
conducted by the boards of education of Philadelphia and New 
York City in 1907, covering the entire work of the play- 
grounds — physical exercise and play, as well as the other ele- 
ments that go to make up a complete work for children. 

New York City conducted sixty-three playgrounds under 
the Board of Education. At most of these was gymnasium 
apparatus for the boys and swings for the girls. At each was 
a librarian who told the smaller children stories and gave out 
books to the larger; a kindergarten teacher, and gymnastic 
teachers. 

Following was an average daily routine of exercise at one 
of the playgrounds : — 

1. 00 to 1.30. — The assembly, consisting of march- 
ing, singing, the salute to the flag, and a short talk 
by the principal. 

1.30 to 2.30. — Organized work in the kindergar- 
ten and gymnastics. 

2.30 to 3.00. — Organized play, including indoor 
and outdoor games which may be played in limited 
space. 

3.00 to 4.00. — Military and gymnastic drills, folk 

112 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

dances, and apparatus work for the older children, 
and occupation work for the younger. 

4.00 to 4.45. — Organized games, basketball, gym- 
nastic and kindergarten games. 

4.45 to 5.15. — Athletics and the activities of the 
Good Citizens' Club. 

5.15 to 5.30. — Dismissal, including marching and 
singing. 

Throughout each afternoon the children were sent in 
groups to the room set apart for reading and quiet games. 
Here, under the direction of one of the teachers, they read or 
played parlor games. 

Philadelphia. — Fifty-eight playgrounds were open in 
Philadelphia during July and August, six days a week, seven 
hours a day. As a rule the morning session was from 8.30 
to 12.00 o'clock, and the afternoon session from 1.30 to 5.00 
o'clock. All the school playgrounds had one teacher and a 
custodian ; those most frequented had two teachers and a cus- 
todian. These playgrounds were under the direction of the 
department of physical education of the city board of public 
education. The general daily program was : — 

Forenoon : 
8.30 to 9.00. — Free play with material and on appa- 
ratus. 
9.00 to 9.30. — Songs, nature talks, or stories. 



9.30 to 10.00 

10.00 to 10.30 

10.30 to 11.00 

11.00 to 12.00 



— Marching, games, rhythms, etc. 
— Games for younger children. 
— Organization games, team games. 
— Occupation. 

Afternoon : 
1.30 to 2.00. — Free play with material and on ap- 
paratus. 
2.00 to 2.30. — Patriotic songs, quiet games, finger 

plays, guessing games, etc. 
2.30 to 3.00. — Ball games and sense plays. 
3.00 to 3.30. — Games for older children, traditional 

and gymnastic games. 
3.30 to 4.00. — Free play or contest games. 
4.00 to 5.00. — Occupation. 
Special Programs. — One morning each week a series of 

113 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

contest games and races was arranged, to which parents and 
others interested were invited. One afternoon each week was 
intended to be given to a series of patriotic songs, a poem, or 
a story. Saluting the flag, or where possible a flag-raising 
exercise with suitable marching and songs were included, es- 
pecially in the so-called "foreign districts." 

In the larger Philadelphia playgrounds or fields, where 
the older children were more in evidence, a typical day's pro- 
gram was as follows : — 

Morning : 
8.30 to 9.00. — Free play with material, and on 

gymnastic apparatus. 
9.00 to 9.30. — Morning exercises ; songs, nature 

talks, stories. 
9.30 to 10.00. — Marching; free exercises; games of 

low organization in which all might participate. 
10.00 to 10.30. — Work on gymnastic apparatus ; track 

and field sports. 
10.30 to 11.00. — Team games. 
11.00 to 12.00. — Occupation work; or team games. 

Afternoon : 
1.30 to 2.00. — Free play with material, and on gym- 
nastic apparatus. 
2.00 to 2.30. — Patriotic songs ; games of low organ- 
ization in which all may participate. 
2.30 to 3.00. — Track and field sports ; quoits, ringtoss 

and other games of skill. 
3.00 to 3.30. — Team games of high organization for 

girls. 
3.30 to 4.00. — Team games of high organization for 

boys. 
4.00 to 5.00. — Occupation work; or team games. 
A Suggestive Schedule for a half hour of physical work 
in an outdoor gymnasium, for children, follows : — 

Children line up according to height; done in 2 or 

3 minutes. 
Simple marching; 5 minutes. 

Breathing exercises, to be done at end of march, while 
walking or at halt, in line, after the marching; 
2 minutes. 

114 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Exercises using arms ; 3 minutes. 

Exercises using trunk ; 3 minutes. 

Exercises using legs ; 2 minutes. 

All-round exercise using all muscles, such as lung- 
ing, imitation throwing, ground exercises ; 5 min- 
utes. 

Exercise using arms principally ; 3 minutes. 

Breathing with arm exercises ; 2 minutes. 

Final marching, ending with dismissal ; 2 minutes. 

The foregoing schedule covers only the more formal class 
work. It may be made to include five or ten minutes of danc- 
ing, if the class is girls, or even if boys. In this case, put the 
dancing period in place of or after the "all-round exercise." 

Following this schedule might be half an hour devoted 
to a variety of games, the class, if large enough, being di- 
vided into groups to play one or several games, alternating 
from time to time at the discretion of the instructor. Or if 
there was to be apparatus work, this would follow the class 
work covered by the above schedule. The apparatus work 
would be followed by the games. 

This schedule is based on the idea that a playground is 
being used by one group of children, that it is a small play- 
ground not so equipped that many activities can be going on 
simultaneously, and that there is but one instructor. The gen- 
eral plan can be altered to adapt it to other conditions. This 
suggestive schedule considers principally the physical train- 
ing aspect ; the other features would need to have due consid- 
eration. 

The Providence, R. I., playgrounds have used the follow- 
ing method, under the direction of Miss Mary J. O'Connor: — 
The children are divided into three groups — A, B and C. 
In "A" are included all the smaller children, boys and girls, 
under eight; "B" is made up of older girls, and "C" of boys. 
Each playground has three instructors, one man and two 
women. The man is a gymnast and has charge of boys, or 
group "C." One woman is a kindergartner and has group "A." 
The other woman is a teacher of gymnastics and has group 
"B." One of the three instructors acts as a director. In some 
playgrounds more than three instructors are employed. The 
aim in arranging a day's program is to have an active period 

115 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

followed by a quiet one, and the industrial work has been found 
important in that it affords interesting relaxation. A literary 
and quiet game room is open in connection with all play- 
grounds from 2 to 5 o'clock in alternate periods for boys and 
girls, the length of period being arranged according to cir- 
cumstances by each director. Occasionally boys and girls as- 
semble for a story telling or reading period, or for games. 
Checkers is the most popular game of its type. A typical day's 
program follows : — 

1.30 to 2.00 P. M. — General opening. 

"A" — Kindergarten circle, talk-songs. 
"B" and "C" — Free play or apparatus, songs, etc. 
2.00 to 2.30. — "A" — Occupations. 

"B" — Organized games. 
2.00 to 2.45. — "C" — Apparatus work. 
2.00 to 5.00. — Library and quiet game room open. 
2.30 to 3.30. — "A" — Free play with all toys, sand, 
swings, etc. 
"B" — Basketry and other industrial work. 
2.45 to 3.45. — "C" — Sloyd, chair caning. 
3.30 to 4.15. — "A" — Story telling. . 

"B" — Gymnastic exercises, drills, dancing. 
3.45 to 4.30. — "C" — Basketball, indoor baseball. 
4.15 to 4.45. — "A" — Ring games, singing and races. 

"B" — Library, quiet games. 
4.30 to 5.30. — "C" — Athletics, games. 
4.45 to 5.30. — "A" — Free play, marching. 

"B" — Athletics, races, basketball. 
Dismissal. 



In addition to the routine daily programs in many play- 
grounds, special days are set apart for exhibitions, for holiday 
demonstrations, for patriotic exercises, flag raisings, athletic 
competitions, ball game tournaments and the inter-playground 
meets in which representatives of several grounds assemble 
to compete in special events. In neighborhoods where the 
population is largely foreign, as has been mentioned, salutes 
.to the flag and exercises of patriotic nature are often included 
in the daily programs. That something of this sort is quite in 
place in all playground programs seems evident enough. 

116 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Another feature of merit is for one playground to enter- 
tain another, with special events of appropriate nature and 
perhaps some form of light refreshments such as ice cream 
and cake. This helps along the good feeling between neigh- 
borhoods in a city and tends to give each neighborhood com- 
mon interests with all other neighborhoods. 

The playground must provide interesting activities. Mr. 
De Groot recently said : "I doubt if we can ever built play- 
grounds that will be one-half as attractive to the boys as the 
streets, alleys, railroad yards, and docks, teeming as they do 
with human interest and offering to the boys all the materials 
that they need for play, and quite contrary to our supposi- 
tion they ask for nothing better." If we hope to get the chil- 
dren to use those places that are set aside and labeled "pub- 
lic playgrounds" we must see to it that activities are offered 
there that make these places attractive, that is, there must be 
"something doing" every minute of the time while these play- 
grounds are open, and this can be accomplished only by 
placing them in charge of men and women who understand 
boys and girls and who have a knowledge of the different 
kinds of games and activities that appeal to children of dif- 
ferent ages. — Lee F. Hanmer, in "Charities." 




A Combination of Vertical and Inclined Ladders. 
(See chapter 19.) 

117 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 



Section Two. 



HOW TO BEGIN AND CONTINUE SYSTEMATIC 

WORK. 

By Gladys Abbott. 

It is well, in playground work, to have a definite pro- 
gram ; to have certain things come at certain times of the day 
and week. Order and a habit of regularity are to be taught. 
If a child is not coming to the playground every day, and 
few do, it is well that he come at some specified time and for 
some definite object. This method shapes itself to the at- 
tendance. Basketball, baseball and athletics all have their 
places. Active group work such as games, classes, folk danc- 
ing, gymnastics, both light and heavy, should be made up as 
fas as possible of constant patrons. The name and address of 
each child should be known and an absence investigated. If 
a regular schedule is carried out the children will form a habit 
of coming regularly for the different classes. 

The whole program of work will to a new director be 
one of growth. Starting with a few classes, more may be 
added as the director becomes better acquainted with the 
needs of the playground population. Doubtless the initial 
start will be made in that subject in which the director has 
the most experience or personal interest. 

The class first attempted is often for games. An easy 
method of starting work is by a circle formation. The first 
circle or ring game played may be one of the children's own 
choosing. This makes a normal, natural start. No two ring 
groups are exactly alike ; each group presents its own prob- 
lem. Careful study of conditions can, with repetition and 
patience, adcTmore difficult games until at the end of the sum- 
mer the children will be playing well. The lack of co-ordi- 
nation, the inability to obey the spoken word, the have-every- 
thing-one's-own-way of some children is unbelievable until 
met with on the playground. 

Many of the games children play of their own initiatave 
are singing games, such as "Round and Round the Valley/' 

118 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

"Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow," "The Jolly Miller." 
The majority are good games but for one or two objection- 
able points. A little quick thinking will obviate the unde- 
sirable features. These games can be added to or altered to 
get more muscular exercise. They have the advantage over 
other games of belonging to children and being enjoyed be- 
cause old and dear. 

(Descriptions of these games are to be found in the book, 
"Graded Games and Rhythmic Exercises." (See list at end of 
this book.) 

Round and Round the Valley is played in this manner: 

Children in circle. One is chosen who steps out- 
side of the circle. Children clasp hands and sing: 

I 
"Go in and out the windows, go in and out the 
windows, go in and out the windows, for the High- 
land gates are low." 

While this is being sung the child chosen walks 
in and out under raised hands. 

II 
"Go round and round the valley (repeat three 
times), for the Highland gates are down." 
Leader walks around outside of circle. 

Ill 
"Go up and down the ladder (repeat three 
times), for the Highland gates are locked." 
Leader walks up and down inside circle. 

IV 
"Go now and pick your true love (repeat three 
times), for the Highland gates are locked." 

Child goes and stands before some one of the op- 
posite sex. 

V 
"Kneel down and kiss your true love (repeat 
three times), for the Highland gates are locked." 
Variations or changes may be suggested while playing, 
as follows : 

In verse one : Windows made different heights, low ones 
to be jumped over, high ones to be got under by bending at 
hips. 

119 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

In verse two : "Go" changed to "Run" round and round 
the valley ; leader instead of slouching around, running 
around in good form. 

In verse three : In going up and down the ladder, up on 
heels and down on toes. 

In verse four: Change "Go now and choose your true 
love," to "Go now and choose your true friend." 

In verse five: Change to "Give place now to your true 
friend." 

In connection with the game class, ball practise makes 
good exercise, and the order of throwing can be graded so as 
to develop alertness and quickness. If basketballs are not ob- 
tainable Bean Bags can be used. A method of using the balls 
or bags is : 

Children in a circle — (a) pass ball around slowly to right, 
teaching proper throwing and catching. 

(All exercises should be repeated a given number of times 
in both directions, right and left.) 

(b) Passing around 3 times right (quick precise work). 

(c) Passing around, right hand throwing, 3 times right. 

(d) Passing around, left hand throwing, 3 times right. 

(e) Passing around to right 3 times, turning after catch- 
ing ball so as to throw to next player over the head. 

(f) Passing around right, 3 times, turning after catching 
ball and throwing back and up to next player between spread 
legs. 

(g) Children in a straight line, the so-called game of 
Teacher. The leader, or teacher, throws to No. 1, who throws 
back to teacher, who throws to No. 2, and so on down the line. 
A player failing to catch the ball, or bag, makes good as soon 
as possible, or the one that fails to catch goes to the foot of 
the line. If the leader fails to catch, No. 1 becomes teacher. 
After this game is learned it can be made competitive by hav- 
ing two sets play against each other. In this case an error 
does not cost loss of position. 

(h) Divide class into two parallel lines, thus : 

123456 

7 8 9 10 11 12 

No. 1 throws to No. 7 ; no. 7 to No. 2, and so on down the 

line. No. 6 throws to No. 12, and then all move one place to 

120 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

the right, No. 12 throwing to No. 2 as he starts, causing the 
following formation : 

2 3 4 5 6 12 

1 7 8 9 10 11 

This is continued until No. 1 is back in place. A com- 
petitive game may be developed by forming two groups. 

Imaginative Play can be used with excellent results. 
Suitable games being "Horse, House and School," "Living 
on a Farm," "Indians," "Crossing the Prairie," or "White 
Man and Indian," "Circus," and many others to be found in 
special books on the subject. 

In considering playground activities the personality of the 
instructor must not be forgotten. To play with and not at 
the chilren ; to instruct, not to dictate ; to teach a new game 
as one child might teach another ; to teach the natural conse- 
quence of disobedience and the counter lesson of each indi- 
vidual playing his own part to gain success for the whole 
team ; to forget self ; to keep one's temper ; to be just ; and, 
above all, to love to play ; — these are elements in the make-up 
of the ideal instructor. Happy is the instructor who enjoys 
playing with children ; for to such an individual they give 
much, receive willingly, and form a fertile field for wide in- 
fluence. 

Methods for Keeping Children Wisely Busy. 

During the long hot afternoons of midsummer there 
come occasional periods when it is too hot to swing or do 
much of anything calling for active exercise. Then the quiet 
games are played, such as "Button, Button, Who's Got the 
Button?" "Beast, Bird or Fish," "Spin the Corn," and others. 
The reading table becomes popular and the boy too languid 
to play asks for a book, "where the feller does somethin'." 

These hours should be made of educational value. The 
work done should be systematically graded, and, if possible, 
of regular occurrence. (In Section One of this chapter are 
shown methods for introducing this type of work into play- 
ground programs.) Regular attendance is often hard to secure 
in a playground, but should be aimed at where occupation 
work is done. It is not wise to form a habit of starting things 

121 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

and never finishing them. A class to meet twice a week for 
some one definite object that will furnish idle hands with 
something to do and at at the same time increase knowledge 
and personal efficiency is what is wanted. The work under- 
taken must not require so long a period as to weary the chil- 
dren. It must be something that can be taught to a number 
of people and usually must not demand much experience. 

Two qualities that too many playground children lack are 
consecutiveness and tenacity of purpose. There is too much 
of the destroy-everything-possible and flitting from one thing 
to another. A principal aim of playgrounds is to overcome 
lawless tendencies acquired in the street and crowded tene- 
ment life. Learning to do some one simple thing well may 
be the turning point in a child's development. 

A simple, inexpensive starting point, subject to graded 
progression into more elaborate work, is cutting out pictures. 
The children placed in a class for cutting out pictures should 
not be those who cut well, but those who need to learn how 
to cut. The first day many can be put to work and from them 
can be picked the poor workers for the first class and those 
with more ability for a second class. The second class can 
undertake not only cutting, but pasting and mounting of pic- 
tures on cardboard, the cutting and pasting of pictures in 
colored calico books, or cutting and making paper dolls from 
fashion plates, or cutting and arranging paper furniture in 
paper books ; or making dolls' houses and, eventually, passe- 
partouting. All this is possible and advisable and much of 
value can be taught, especially care in execution, patience and 
persistency. 

In the passe-partouting and in cardboard mounting a 
series of pictures on selected subjects, with talks, can be in- 
troduced with educational value. The glass is the only ex- 
pensive thing and that is used only in the passe-partout work. 

About paper dolls. Among the fashion plates search for 
a figure without a head, cut out the face and mount it verti- 
cally on a slender strip of pasteboard. By gluing horizontal 
pieces of paper across the shoulders of dresses, an endless 
wardrobe for one doll can be provided. 

Wood whittling for the boy is inexpensive and practically 
always in order. A manual training teacher can, in a few les- 

122 




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sons, teach enough models to last a playground instructor a 
summer. 

Sewing should be taught systematically. A sewing 
teacher could teach a good needlewoman all the required fun- 
damentals in a few lessons. Millinery can be taught with doll 
models, also ribbon tying and bow making. 

Boys delight in a class of knot making. Sometimes an 
old sailor will be delighted with the opportunity to teach the 
boys. 

Raffia work and basketry with a good teacher are excel- 
lent, though comparatively expensive. 

Nothing should be taught until the instructor has first 
mastered it well. Neither should any such instruction be un- 
dertaken that is not properly grounded fundamentally and 
well graded. 




Running High Jump Over Vaulting Bar. 

(See chapter 20.) 



123 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 



Dip and Swing Exercises on Parallel Bars. 

(Selected from a prospective book by A. B. Wegener, entitled "Tech- 
nique of Gymnastic Exercises.") This type of exercise is for young men 
with good development; it ought not to be used except sparingly for any 
class of men and then may well be counteracted by setting-up movements 
that will expand the chest. (See chapter 19.) 




124 



PART FOUR 

Games and Exercises for Children and 
Grown-Ups. 



Play at its best is only a school of ethics. — 
G. Stanley Hall. 

Play may be work for men and women; work 
may be play for children. 

The whole test of the worth of any sport should 
be the demand that sport makes upon the quality of 
the mind and body which in their sum recall manli- 
ness. — Theodore Roosevelt. 

A team in athletics or sports without the spirit 
of fair play, clean and honorable conduct, is like 
a team of unmatched horses. Team spirit is the 
germ of devotion to city, state and nation. 

It should be the buzziness of yung persons to 
assist Natur, and strengthen the growing frame by 
athletic exercizes. — Noah Webster. 



125 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

SIMPLE MARCHING AND RUNNING. 

Xot to Make Soldiers, but to Help Effective Class 
Exercise — Some Sample Movements — Executing 
Fancy Figures. 

Marching in organized ranks is an excellent means to put 
ideas of discipline and the need for concerted action in groups 
into the minds and lives of boys and girls. Elaborate military 
drill is not always feasible and still less often desirable. In 
many cases it can be used with excellent results, but in the 
long run, in the majority of playgrounds or gymnasiums, it is 
a waste of time without much compensating advantages that 
cannot be gained by better methods more in keeping with ap- 
proved physical education ideals. But military drill and sim- 
ple marching are not necessarily the same thing. Any teacher, 
in gymnasium or in playground, ought to be able to guide a 
class in simple marching by command. Xot very many such 
teachers can conduct military drill in good form. 

If we were trying to make soldiers of our boys, then mil- 
itary drill would be a fundamental. But this is not the pur- 
pose in many places such as are being considered. We want 
certain physical benefits to come, with following results of 
which stiffness in any form is not necessarily a part ; at least 
not in playground work. 

Such simple marching as will be outlined is useful not 
only for marching as such, but for squad formations and whole 
class formation as well. 

What better effect can be had in the way of beginning 
class work, for example, whether indoors or outdoors, than by 
lining up the class in single rank, facing the center of the room 
or field, or the part of room or field that is to be used ; having 
the class lined up by height, tallest at one end and gradually 
dropping down to the smallest member at the other end ; then 

126 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

at word of command : "Class — forward, column right (or left) 
— March !" This begins class work in systematic manner, 
producing a good effect on spectators, on pupils and on the 
instructor. (See drawings, or cuts, on page 130.) 

Not many good teachers, perhaps it is safe to say not 
any good teacher, will allow a class to use the "helter-skelter, 
get-there-any-way-possible" method of starting class exercise. 
Doing so means much more work for the teacher when he 
wants to get things done, and it means much more irritation 
on the part of the pupils, thus detracting from their pleasure, 
which ought not to be. Organized methods are best. The 
way mentioned is one of the simplest. 

Another way is to line up the class, count off in fours or 
threes or twos, whichever is desired, or according to size of 
class ; then at command, "Class — forward, by fours (or threes 
or twos) — March!" In this case the marching forward should 
end at the apparatus or the part of room or field in which the 
squad is to begin exercise. 

In neither case mentioned is marching for itself provided 
for, but simply marching the class from its initial formation 
to its apparatus or place for squad exercise, the evolution occu- 
pying two to four minutes. 

Marching movements may be begun from the first posi- 
tion mentioned. When the class has marched forward at com- 
mand, it can then be directed in its course as the teacher may 
desire. It is always desirable to have an experienced leader 
at the head of the line. Never have a "green" pupil there if 
it can be avoided. 

After the class is able to march in single column, the next 
stage is to double up into column of two or fours. See cut D.) 
Military marching nowadays does not provide for columns of 
threes, but this formation may be used for physical training 
purposes. 

A column is a line of men each behind another. This is 
also properly called marching in single file. If two or three or 
four men are marching side by side (see cut B) it is a column 
of twos or threes or fours. 

A rank is a line of men side by side, as in cut E. This 
is the position first mentioned in this chapter. With a very 

127 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

large class it may be advisable sometimes to line up in two 
ranks, one behind the other, as in cut F. In this formation, 
each line of men acts together. That is, if the order is ''Right, 
face!'' both lines face right together. At ''Column, forward — 
March !" both lines march forward, side by side. 

The usual turns made by a marching class in column are 
made at right angles or countermarch. Both are indicated by 
cuts. The command for turning at right angles has already 
been given: "Column — right (or left) — March!" If the 
teacher wishes the class to countermarch (cut C), the com- 
mand to be given is: "Column, right (or left) about — March!" 
There is a proper way of turning on a specified foot in making 
the turns, and an instant at which command should be given. 
These points and others can be easily obtained from books 
devoted to the special subject of marching. (See list at end 
of this book.) 

After simple marching comes Fast Marching and Slow- 
Running. This can be done in just the same manner as has 
been described in outline. Another good scheme for slow 
class running is for the instructor to take place at the head of 
the line and lead the class as he wishes it to go. This is a 
very good way and perhaps best of all ways, unless there is at 
hand a competent leader or assistant who will set the right 
pace and not go too fast nor lag too slow. A slow class run 
should not be a race, but should be done in good order, each 
pupil keeping proper place and distance all the time. The 
length of the run can be determined by the judgment of the 
instructor, but ought not to be for more than three minutes for 
a new class, nor long enough to exhaust or over tire any class 
that has more work to do. For physiological results of best 
sort such a class should start as a fast walk, lead into the 
slow run, and towards the end of the time allotted should 
increase to rather fast pace, then slow down gradually and 
end in a walk. Breathing exercises should come during the 
final walk, with or without arm movements. 

Some figures that may be executed in marching, after 
simple marching has been used, are to be had in special books. 
Some of these figures can also be used in class running. (See 
list at the end of this book.) The maze or spiral figure 

128 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

is a favorite for running classes and is always lots of fun. 
It ought to be done well and in order, not allowing the class 
to get confused and the line to be broken. To prevent too 
much confusion with a new class it is better not to "wind up 
too tight" ; that is, not to m^ke the spiral grow too small in 
the middle. After the class gets proficient and used to the 
sensation of circling about so many times, "wind up" as tight 
as you like, and lead the way out of the middle yourself as 
best you can. 

A Combination of several marching and running exercises 
may be made up as follows : (Diagrams on next page.) 

MARCHING. — Single file once around the playground 
space. 

Column right and left about, working back and forth. 
(See diagram No. i.) 

Once around. 

Down center, file left and right alternating. 

Around and down center by twos, column of twos R. and 
L. alternating. 

Around and down the center by fours, divide R. and R. 
and L. alternating. 

Around and down center by eights, divide R. and L. by 
fours. 

Around and down center by fours, divide R. and L. by 
twos. 

Around and down center by twos, divide R. and L. by file. 

Around and form in file, ready for the run. 

RUNNING.— Once around. 

Form fours, left oblique. 

Right by file. 

Maze or spiral and unwind. (See diagram No. 2.) 

Figure eight until figure is shown. (See diagram No. 3.) 

Out of figure eight and execute — 
Arms side horizontal. 
Arms front horizontal. 
Arms vertical. 
Slapping knees. 
Slapping heels. 

Close the run with a short walk on toes. 

129 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Bring class to halt, facing instructor. 
Breathing exercises, arms forward up over head and 
down to sides, several times. 



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Music is of course desirable for good marching, at least 
while learning, to indicate time and rhythm. The end can be 
gained in many ways : a small boy and a drum, a stick and a 
box, clapping hands, harmonica, singing, etc. 





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(See chapter 18 for description of above marching move- 
ments.) 



130 



r CHAPTER XIX. 

EXERCISES ON OUTDOOR APPARATUS. 

Suggestions — Giant Stride — Ladders — Horizontal 
Bar — Vaulting Bar — Rings — Rope Climbing — Pole 
Climbing — Other Apparatus. 

Apparatus work in the outdoor gymnasium need not 
differ much from that done on indoor apparatus, except that 
some apparatus is used in playgrounds that has not ordinarily 
a place in indoor gymnasiums. The horse, the buck, the 
parallel bars, the ladders, the rings, etc., are at home in both 
places. Exercises for them can be secured from several books 
for that particular purpose. (See list at end of book.) The 
giant stride, teeter ladder, seesaw, merry-go-round, etc., are 
typical of outdoor requirements, although some of them are 
now and then found in indoor equipment. 

Apparatus in outdoor gymnasiums is ordinarily used in 
different spirit from that indoors. Less attention is paid to 
form and technical correctness of exercise. The apparatus is 
regarded more as something to be gotten over, an obstacle to 
be overcome, than as a means for performing in correct form. 
In other words, the recreative idea is uppermost out of doors. 
There is no reason, however, for not doing gymnastics on 
outdoor apparatus just as carefully and accurately as indoors. 
The writer's mind goes with this method, but it is not the 
method used in most American outdoor gymnasiums. There 
are reasons of value why this is so. 

Sometimes it depends on the local conception of the pur- 
pose of a playground in general and of an open air gymna- 
sium in particular. The idea of a playground as a place for 
pure re-creation might naturally place the gymnasium in the 
light of one means to secure that recreation. If the play- 
ground be considered an important place for rational educa- 
tion in the broad sense, then the gymnasium department is 
likely to be systematically used as one means to educate the 

131 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

children and the older ones in certain social, moral, ethical, 
principles. The exact status of playgrounds is not yet ac- 
ceptably defined, hence the use of apparatus varies widely 
in both extent and method. 

Where apparatus is used systematically, the feasible way 
is undoubtedly to divide the class or large group into small 
squads or little groups, each squad having an instructor or a 
volunteer leader. The squads should alternate in the use of 
each piece of apparatus so that all the exercisers use all the ap- 
paratus at some time during the allotted class period. By this 
method some degree of discipline can be maintained ; not too 
rigid but enough so to prevent undue scrambling and confu- 
sion, and to make it possible for each indicidual to have a 
fair show. Without some such systematic arrangement, the 
"smart" ones will do an exercise they like as many times as 
they can, to the disadvantage of more timid ones who stay 
in the background. The timid ones need encouragement; the 
over-strenuous need repression ; a system and an instructor 
able and willing to enforce it will do both, thus adding to the 
general efficiency of fair play, exercise and a good time. 



The illustrations given in this chapter are meant for in- 
spiration without attempt to be complete, exhaustive, or sys- 
tematically arranged. (See pages 134, 135.) 

Giant Stride. — A piece of apparatus of much value en- 
joyed by children. Exercises are usually performed in circles 
in motion. See illustration (page 94), showing six girls run- 
ning in the ordinary way. When sufficient momentum is ob- 
tained the girls may raise feet from ground and be carried 
along in the air, touching feet to the ground now and then 
to keep up the motion. 

The same idea can be carried out with simple dancing 
steps in place of running. 

Fig. B and C (page 135) show different methods of hold- 
ing the ladder or grip while running or skipping. 

Fig. D, E, F show the exercisers swinging with feet raised 
from ground. 

Fig. G shows two boys running on one ladder. 

All exercises should be reversed ; that is done on both 
right and left sides. 

132 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

(See "Code Book," Puritz; "Elementary Gymnastics," 
Arnold; for variety of systematically arranged exercises. 
See list at end of this book.) 

Ladders. — There are various types of gymnasium and 
playground ladders as shown in the illustrations in chapter 
8, including the horizontal, inclined, and vertical, and com- 
binations of the three. (See page 117.) Most children will find 
uses for this class of apparatus without instruction but for 
classes and systematic exercise with large numbers, as well 
as for the children who are not spontaneously adventurous, 
some instruction or guidance is desirable. The illustrations 
suggest possibilities. (See "Code Book," Puritz, for addi- 
tional exercises.) 

Fig. A — (Page 134) Hanging, hands in ordinary grasp, 
right leg raised to side. 

Fig. B — Hanging, hands reverse grasp, both legs spread. 

Fig. C — Hanging, hands grasping rungs of ladder, left 
foot raised behind. 

Fig. D — Facing end of ladder, both knees raised, arms 
extended, hands grasping sides of ladder. 

Fig. E — Facing end of ladder, legs raised from thighs, 
arms flexed, hands grasping rungs. 

Fig. F — A method of climbing the vertical ladder. 

Fig. G, H, I, show three methods of climbing an inclined 
ladder. 

Fig. J — Ascending side ladder on side. 

Fig. K — Ascending inclined ladder on back. 

Horizontal Bar. — The horizontal bar is popular with boys 
of all ages and with girls under some conditions. The bars 
are sometimes made adjustable so that the height from the 
ground can be altered to suit the performers. Sometimes sev- 
eral heights of stationary bars are provided. In chapter VIII, 
is shown a bar which may be adjusted to almost any height 
needed. 

Drawings (page 134) show sample exercises and positions 
from elementary or simple to more advanced or those more 
difficult to execute. The difficult exercises should never be 
tried by inexperienced children unless a competent instructor 
is at hand to aid if necessary. Still accidents are surprisingly 

133 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 




Horizontal Bar. 

(See page 133.) 




Ladders 
(See page 133.) 





Broad Jump. 



(See page 142.) 
134 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 





Giant Stride. 
(See page 132.) 



135 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

few with children who do try "stunts" regardless of conse- 
quence. Instructors should not prevent boys from trying and 
learning the difficult and dangerous feats. That is an im- 
portant part of the boys' education. (See Mr. Lee's remarks 
in chapter VII.) 

Fig. A — Ordinary hanging position. 

Fig. B — Grasping left wrist with right hand, pull up. 

Fig. C — Traveling along bar, hand over hand. 

Fig. D — Feet to the bar, knees bent. 

Fig. E — Feet to the bar, knees not bent. 

Fig. F — Traveling along the bar, with body turns. 

Fig. G — Circling the bar, keeping legs straight. 

Fig. H — Turning through the hands or ''skin the cat." 
Fig. I — Showing completion of movement in H. The 

performer may drop to the ground from this position or pull- 
up and return to starting position, shown in A. The return 
is difficult at first. 

Fig. J — Starts as I but when feet reach the bar they are 
kept there and body forced through to position shown in 
drawing. 

The following are in the line of "stunts" for beginners 
and it is always wise to have someone at hand who is com- 
petent to look out for the exercisers. 

Fig. K — A method of circling the bar known as an "In- 
step circle." 

Fig. L — Another form of "Instep circle," both insteps 
being used. 

Fig. M — "Knee circle" forward ; may also be done back- 
ward as shown in N. 

Fig. N — "Knee circle" backward. 

Fig. O — A little more "nerve" required to do this "knee 
circle" forward ; performed thus : first, position as in Fig. N ; 
second, right (or left) leg up until instep touches bottom of 
bar; third, let go right, (or left) hand and immediately circle 
forward. 

Fig. P — Balancing on one hand on bar. 

Vaulting Bar. — This is a bar placed at about the height 
of the performer's chest. It it used mainly as the name sug- 
gests—to vault over. When the horizontal bar is adjustable 

136 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

(as mentioned under Horizontal Bar) it can be lowered to 
the proper distance from the ground. Exercises are shown 
in the accompanying drawings, A, B, C, D. (Page 135.) 

Rings with their possibilities are of practical value, and 
interest boys and girls. The exercises (page 135) shown by 
drawings A, B, C, may not arouse so much enthusiasm from 
energetic older boys as the exercise shown in Fig. D, which 
may be made into a competition by having the boys jump for 
records ; that is, to see which one or which side can get over 
the greatest height. 

Fig. A — Hanging, one arm bent, other arm extended to 
side. An advanced gymnast may be able to extend both arms 
to sides at same time making a "cross." 

Fig. B — Hang, head downward. 

Fig. C — Turn over (forward or backward) from stand on 
ground ; this is called the "dislocation" turn ; it is well for 
small boys to not do much of it ; it is a "stunt" that the aver- 
age boy wants to do. 

Fig. D — A method of using the rings as a means to jump 
over an obstacle. The exercise is done while swinging and 
an expert will be able, after practice, to get over an obstacle 
higher than the rings. The obstacle shown here is a set of 
jumping standands ; any other obstacle may be used. 

Rope Climbing is one of the best of exercises, not only 
for strengthening the muscles of the arms and legs, but for 
increasing the healthiness of the heart and lungs. So many 
muscles work together in climbing that the exercise is a cap- 
ital one for aiding respiration and nutrition. There are sev- 
eral methods of ascending the rope. One is known as "one 
hand leading," in which the climber should stand close to the 
rope, then reach up and take hold with both hands, one just 
above the other ; then raise the legs, without bending the 
arms, and grasp the rope ; with one leg on top and one under- 
neath. The rope should be held between the heel of one 
foot and the instep of the other, and between the knees. Now 
pull with the arms and straighten the body until the chest 
touches the hands. After this reach up again, one hand at 
a time, and repeat the movements described. A good deal 
depends upon a good hold of the rope with the legs, as much 

137 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

of the weight of the body is thus taken off the hands. In the 
hand over hand climb one arm is moved for every stroke of 
the legs. To climb by means of the arms only is a good ex- 
ercise for the biceps and other muscles. In learning, short 
steps should be taken, and the arms should be bent as much 
as possible. Later the economical way is to take longer steps. 
— Gymnasium. 

Pole Climbing is another natural exercise that all normal 
children take to as a healthy duck to the water. The draw- 
ings, A, B, C, show three ways of climbing. Drawing D shows 
how to turn upside down between two poles. (See page 135.) 

Fig. A — Same, with ordinary climbing position, using 
both arms and both legs. 

Fig. B — Climbing with aid of hands and legs ; using 
hands and one leg only. 

Fig. C — Climbing without aid of legs, using hands only. 

Fig. D — Turning over on two poles, done in similar man- 
ner to Fig. C on rings. 

The buck, parallel bars and vaulting horse are universal 
pieces of apparatus in outdoor gymnasiums and in different 
forms are used in nearly every indoor gymnasium. There are 
numerous books of exercises. For a variety of suggestive ex- 
ercises with apparatus the book "Popular Gymnastics," Betz, 
is of real value. (See list on page 268.) 





Hurdle. 
(See chapter 20 ) 



Pole Vault. 
(Drawing C, page 142.) 



138 




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CHAPTER XX. 

ATHLETICS AND ATHLETIC GAMES. 

Use Individuality — Girls Entitled to Athletic Atten- 
tion-^) ft-hand Competitive Events — Public Schools 
Athletic Leagues for Boys and Girls — Relays — Walk- 
ing — Fancy Starts — Serpentine Race — Obstacle 
Races — Medicine Ball — Other Activities. 

Athletics are especially well adapted to outdoor uses. 
They belong in the open air. In the atmosphere of that sub- 
stitute for out of doors, the gymnasium building, athletics al- 
ways seem more or less like plants and trees boxed and potted 
in men's houses. In the playground, athletic events of all 
sorts give much pleasure and interest many boys and men 
who are little concerned about gymnasium apparatus work 
or anything else the establishment offers. There is no harm 
in this. There is no sense in trying to make every man in 
a mould, trying to turn out so many imitations of somebody 
else. Still less with a boy. 

What is a boy's individuality for? 

There is no use trying to drive him like a squealing pig. 
and about as unsuccessfully, into playground work he will 
not let you see he likes. If you are as wise as you ought to 
be to hold a playground appointment you will know how eas- 
ily most any boy can be made to do almost anything a wise 
instructor wants him to do, if your patience holds out and 
you have something else to lead him to. 

Right here is one of your chances, you playground in- 
structor, to make the playgrounds live up to their ideals of 
service. Here you see one of the ways by which you can help 
a boy to be the sort of a man he ought to be and without be- 
ing turned out of a mold made for some other embryo man. 

But the girls have just as much right, thanks to twenti- 
eth centurv intelligence, to athletic attention as the bovs and 

139 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

men. Better still, they are getting it in the playgrounds and 
gymnasiums that are up-to-date. The ancient who wrote 
that "When strong is the mother her sons shall make laws 
for the people," hardly saw how the work of the American 
playgrounds would justfy his proverb. Truly there are no 
agencies today for the masses of the people that are making 
strong the frames of future mothers better or easier than the 
municipal gymnasiums and the playgrounds in cities. 

Boys and girls always like running and climbing; in- 
herited traits of prehistoric ancestry, the students tell us, 
but still matters of usefulness in today's civilizaion. Let the 
boys and girls run, then, and let them climb. They will any- 
way, so you may as well save yourself the trouble of putting 
obstacles in the way. Better guide their activities in these 
lines. Better conduct little informal running events for boys 
and girls under your watchful eye, or that of your assistants, 
and so use youthful energy naturally and rightfully. Your 
playground ideals may be very serviceably and practically ap- 
plied even in a 20-yard dash. 

Set your class of little girls, and big ones if you can, to 
running joyously down the grassy slope or along the cinder 
path after a rolling ball when they get restless and you want 
a minute of rest yourself; still better, help them get the 
ball ; your dignity won't suffer and your influence with the 
class will increase. Well regulated, not overdone, familiarity 
and participation in the work of your pupils is an excellent 
thing for all concerned, more so probably in playground work 
than ordinarily in gymnasiums, where the walls and roof 
seem to spell restraint and repression. 

There are many technical points that can be made plain 
to the boys, and some of like nature to the girls, regarding 
right ways to jump, vault, make starts, run, and so on. There 
are too many of these to make detailed mention possible here. 
For example, in the running broad jump the instructor may 
explain as well as illustrate (when possible) but explain at 
least, how to go about this form of exercise to get correct 
form and to get the most distance for record; the two aims 
belong together. Good form and good records seldom come 
apart from one another. In other words doing things right 

140 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

brings a definite reward. Most any instructor will see the 
ethical bearing of this on life in general and can tactfully 
let the older children into the secret at opportune times. 

In the Running Broad Jump it is important to know how 
to strike the "take off" (the place from which the jump is 
made) at the right instant so not to loose the force of the 
coming jump. This calls for practice and much of it, in most 
cases. Any old way will not do, if good results are to follow. 
Then having made the "take off" properly, the jumper needs 
to acquire the knack of getting the knees well up to the chest 
from the instant of leaving the "take off," while going 
through the air and until the instant comes to extend the legs 
forward to get the most distance when the feet strike the 
ground. 

These elements of a jump in good form need a great deal 
of practice and intelligent coaching; it can be done in classes 
for all general purposes ; the intelligent individual who gets 
to the stage where he or she wants to try to "break a record" 
can have an occasional word from an instructor that will 
help. Making champions, giving a great deal of attention to 
one or two or half a dozen individuals, is very seldom feasible 
on playgrounds that are properly conducted, unless there be 
an instructor whose business it is to do such things. 

If the general run of individuals, the masses, suffer be- 
cause the instructor gives too much time and thought to a 
few, the few should be left to solve their own problems. This 
mistake is made in some city playgrounds and they have 
become mere athletic training fields for a few would-be cup 
winners. There is nothing whatever to be said against this ; 
it is part of the purpose of a playground for older boys and 
men to make such practice and training possible and con- 
venient with expert instructors ; but the point is that the 
needs of the many must not be sacrifieced to please the few. 
It is just this sort of mistake that has caused grave maladmin- 
istration in college physical training; the great mass of stu- 
dents get less attention than they require while the few star 
athletes get much more than they ought to have. Play- 
grounds need to be administrated so that this criticism can- 
not be justly made against them. 

141 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Running Broad Jump, or Long Jump, over Obstacle. — In 
this exercise the "take off" or start of the jump is some dis- 
tance from the rope. The object is to clear as great a distance 
as possible. This jump is an opposite to the High Jump 
where the purpose is to get up as high as possible. The reg- 
ular Running Broad Jump in athletic competitions is done in 
the same way, usually without the obstacle to jump over. 
For playground purposes, aside from the set contests, the ob- 
stacle offers a pleasing variation. The "take off" out of doors 
may be from the level ground or from a raised board as shown 
in the drawing. 

Pole Vault. — The starting position "A" (page 134) shows 
how pole should be held with lower end up at about level of 
eyes. After the run toward the rope, at the instant the vault 
is to begin, the end of the pole is placed on the ground (see 
B) and the vaulter rises with the pole in the air. Drawing C 
(page 138) shows him in the air about to go over the rope. 

There are two forms of Hurdles, the low and the high. 
Both are in common use. The low hurdles are commonly used 
for girls and boys ; men use them also. The high hurdle is 
by regulation 3 ft. 6 in. high, the distance run being 120 yards, 
the hurdles ten yards apart with the first hurdle 15 yards from 
the starting point and the last hurdle 15 yards from the fin- 
ishing line. The low hurdle is 2 ft. 6 in. high, the distance 
220 yards, the hurdles 20 yds. apart with the first hurdle 20 
yards distant from the starting line, and the last hurdle 20 
yards from the finishing line. These are the official distances 
and heights. Of course for ordinary playground purposes it 
may be wise to modify both. (See drawing page 138.) 

In the Running High Jump the object is to go over the 
bar or rope at a distance from the ground. In a contest each 
jumper is allowed three trials at each height and if he misses 
three times in succession at a height is diqualified from fur- 
ther jumping. For playground purposes this rule may be 
overlooked, in practice, although it is important that the of- 
ficial ruling be understood so that there may be no confusion 
in actual contest, when disputes over rules are always dis- 
agreeable. 

The Public Schools Athletic League Movement, which 

142 




A Game of Basketball. The illustration shows the ball in the air, 
having been tossed up by the umpire now seen standing at the right, and 
being jumped for by one of the "centers." 




Modern physical training in playgrounds and elsewhere wisely pro- 
vides athletics for girls as well as for their brothers. Here is shown a 
girl making a high jump. Note the instructor standing ready to lend a 
hand if necessary. At the extreme right is the scorer, with score sheet 
ready to record the height of the jump, this being a contest. 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

has been taken up in various cities to systematize that part of 
the school boys' physical activity, extending also to the girls, 
has a natural alliance with playgrounds. Considerble infor- 
mation on the subject is easily obtainable. 

The idea that has been in the minds of most of the pro- 
moters of the Public Schools Athletic League has been "not 
merely or mainly to promote athletics among those boys 
already athletically trained, but to develop a large number 
of boys who know nothing about the various sports." An 
important element in the accomplishment of this purpose in 
New York City has been the type of work known as Class 
Athletics, the object being to get every member of a class in 
a school to compete ; the class securing the best average get- 
ting a trophy, to be hung in its school room until the next 
competition. 

A so-called "button test" affects the individual boys. 
Each boy who, hanging from a bar, can pull himself up by his 
arms a certain number of times ; run a certain distance in a 
specified length of time; and jump a certain distance, is 
awarded a bronze button. There are also track and field 
sports, basketball, football and baseball competition. (The 
P. S. A. L. Handbook contains details.) 

The ideal, in evolving plans for organized athletic 
work in the classes, has been to maintain and emphasize the 
difference between school athletics, or athletics that can legit- 
mately have a place in connection with educational work, and 
the athletics of the athletic club ; also to avoid "athletics being 
run away with by the intense competition spirit." The ideal 
thus outlined has been followed with a considerable degree of 
success, although with some lapses and occasional disadvan- 
tageous circumstances peculiar to new movements. 

Girls' Branch of the Public Schools Athletic League of 
New York City. — The girls' branch has been doing, since 
1905, a work of considerable importance for the girls in the 
schools of New York City, and also, incidentally, for their 
teachers. The type of work carried on has been mainly folk 
dances and athletic games. Between 7,000 and 8,000 girls at- 
tended classes in 1907 in 128 schools, under 250 teachers. 

143 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Athletic Features. — Of organized athletic events or meets 
for the boys and men, and for the girls and women, little will 
be said in this book. A trained instructor is needed for this 
work who ought not to require much from books of this type. 

There are many informal off-hand competitive events 
that are just as enjoyable and beneficial as those requiring 
more machinery and trouble, aside from those that are classed 
as games. Some events come on the border land and are both 
games and athletics. Such, for instance, is the Potato Race, 
always a source of fun and excitement if sides are well 
matched. The Medicine Ball Race is of similar nature. Bas- 
ket Ball Relay Race is another. Obstacle Races are of similar 
class. They take in running, not too long nor too arduous, or 
not necessarily so, are not over competitive, and take in a 
little of the team spirit of organized games. 

For boys there is good fun in a Four Legged Race, 
Wheelbarrow Race, Three Legged Race, in Walking Matches, 
in various Fancy Starts for 20-yard dash. 

In the Wheelbarrow Race, one boy has his hands on the 
ground while another boy grasps his feet. The boy on the 
ground walks or runs on his hands as the other boy pushes 
him along, not too rapidly, wheelbarrow fashion. This event 
becomes a race when four or more couples are lined up to race 
for the finish line. 

In the Three Legged Race two boys have a leg each fas- 
tened together below the knees so that the two legs united 
move as one. In running, each boy clasps his inside hand 
over the outside shoulder of his mate. 

In a Four Legged Race two or more individuals start on 
signal, on hands and feet, and continue in the same position 
to the finish. 

Walking Matches may be started as in running races or 
may be varied by starting back to the finish line, walking 
backward instead of forward. 

Fancy Starts for 20-yard dash may be from lying down 
position, head to starting line, feet to line or side to line. At 
signal to "go," the boys must rise from prone position and 
get under way for the run by the quickest method. 

A more elaborate event, but one that calls for no format 

144 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 




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Top drawing shows start of Stone or Potato 
Race. (See page 165.) 

Second drawing shows finish of above race. 

Third drawing shows Ring and Apple Race. 
(See page 165.) 

Bottom drawing shows the Serpentine Race. 
(See page 146.) 



145 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

organization more than choosing sides, is the Serpentine Race, 
equally good for boys and girls. 

Ten staffs or poles about four feet high are stuck into the 
ground in a straight line about ten feet apart. The first pole 
should be ten feet from the starting line and the last pole ten 
feet from the finishing line. If a number of runners are to 
take part, four lines of poles should be set up. Unless several 
such courses can be laid out, the competitors will have to 
run separately and be timed. The race is run by passing the 
first staff on the left side, the next on the right, the third on 
the left, and so on. The one reaching the finishing line in the 
shortest time wins the race. 

This race may also be run with dumbbells or even stones 
placed on the ground or floor at regular intervals, instead of 
staffs. The distance between poles can be altered at will ; or 
the number of poles can be decreased, thus reducing the dis- 
tance to be run. 

An elaboration of the same event can be made by hop- 
ping on one foot instead of running. Either foot may be used 
but only one ; that is, feet must not be changed during the 
race. It may be wise to use only five or six poles, for hopping 
is much more difficult than running. 

A third event on the same foundation is the Chain Race 
in which from 8 to 30 boys (or girls) can compete at each 
line of poles. The leader of each group toes the starting line 
as usual. The second boy catches hold of the first boy's belt, 
or coat, or grasps one shoulder; and all the others do likewise 
until the chain is complete. The chain must not be broken 
nor pole knocked down during the race. The finish is when 
the last boy passes the finish line. The group finishing first 
wins the event. 

There is plenty of fun in this for both spectators and par- 
ticipants, hence it is good for exhibitions. From 8 to 120 
boys may participate at once, as indicated. 

Of Relay Races there are many varieties but the funda- 
mental principle is the same in all. (See also Chapter 30.) 
Usuallly two sides are chosen, of equal number of persons. 
Each side should have a captain or leader. The leader se- 
lects the member of his or her side to start first and those to 

146 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

follow in regular order. This is done before the race starts. 
On a mark the first runner stands or ''sets" ready for the in- 
structor's signal. At the signal the one member from each 
side starts. The runner completes the allotted course by re- 
turning to the starting point, touches the hand or person of 
the next runner, who immediately starts off. This goes on 
until all the members of one side or both have run. The side 
that first gets its last runner back wins. 

So much the general principle of Relay Races. Now for 
a concrete example. Take the Basket Ball Relay mentioned 
above : 

The two sides of from four to a dozen individuals are 
chosen. The leader, or captain, may place them in the order 
in which they are to start, or the instructor may do so. The 
first boy (or girl) on each side has a basket ball. At the 
signal he runs to the regular goal perhaps 20 yards away, tries 
to make the goal by putting the ball in the basket and keeps 
trying until he does it. The one who gets his ball in first 
returns as fast as he can with the ball to his starting point, 
touches the next boy who at once starts over the same course. 
This is kept up until all of one side have run, made baskets 
and returned to the starting point. The real fun comes when 
two boys are at the goal trying to make the basket simultan- 
eously. 

If desired the same game may be played with a box or a 
barrel standing on the ground in place of the elevated goal. 
In this case, the ball is thrown or tossed from a line a few 
feet in front of the receptacle. It can be played with a bean 
bag or bag of sand tossed into a box. (See also chapter 30.) 

The Basket Ball Relay is just as good for young men, or 
for girls, as boys. If an instructor has to deal with a group 
of boys or men who are "basket ball fiends" and would appar- 
ently play the game continuously, the basket ball relay is one 
of the strong temporary antidotes. 

In an Obstacle Race the contestants pass certain obsta- 
cles on a course. Perhaps the obstacle will be a jumping 
standard midway in the course to be jumped over without 
knocking off the bar or stick. Or the obstacle may be crawl- 
ing under a blanket spread on the grass with the four corners 

147 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

fastened down by large stones or wooden pegs. Two or more 
obstacles may be placed in a course. If the class is large, a 
whole playground may be used with a number of obstacles. 
If two sides have been chosen in this latter case, care must be 
taken to so plan that the two sides do not get confused and 
mixed. This precaution is necessary because with a large 
class there are likely or almost sure to be slow members who 
do not keep up with the procession and so provide the chance 
for confusion. 

Regular apparatus can be well used for the obstacles. 
For example, the class divided in two sections might start 
from the line of departure on signal, vault over a bar or a 
horse, then under the blanket on the grass, then climb a lad- 
der and down the other side, then a io-yard sprint down the 
track to and over a low hurdle, on over the track and jump 
the stick for high jump placed low, then across the grass to 
the frame and travel hand over hand from one end to the 
other (provided the frame can be so used), then back to the 
starting point. The side getting all its runners back over 
the starting line first wins. Of course advance planning must 
be made to prevent the sides coming together, as before 
stated, but this is easily done. 

A less elaborate form of obstacle race would use only a 
small section of the playground, perhaps only two or three 
pieces of the apparatus. If there should be no apparatus the 
obstacle race could still be used. Most any playground will 
yield an empty barrel, an old box and a stick six feet long or 
more. If no long stick is to be found set a couple of boys at 
work splicing two or three short pieces with the string every 
true boy has in his pockets. Set the barrel with side towards 
the runners, braced with small stones to prevent undue roll- 
ing. Place the stick across the box with the two ends pro- 
jecting on either side. Now start the runners, having them 
jump over the barrel going and over the stick returning. 
There we have all the elements in crude form of any obstacle 
race. 

The same idea as the foregoing is contained in Follow 
the Leader, in which a group of boys or girls follow a leader 
and imitate as exactly as possible every movement the leader 

148 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

makes. This as a natural game, that is, boys and girls will 
use it without direction and hence by suggestion of an in- 
structor without recognized direction. 

Apparatus is not always needed to get results. But of 
course use the apparatus if it is available and get it as soon as 
possible if it does not exist. Being adaptable and making use 
of make-shifts is sometimes a good way to influence commit- 
tees and officials to provide equipment. There was a hard- 
hearted committee that refused repeated requests for some 
jumping standards and sticks. They visited a certain play- 
ground unannounced one afternoon and found the teacher ar- 
ranging the old box and the spliced sticks referred to and 
saw how they were used. Nothing was said about it but less 
than a week later the caretaker informed the teacher that he 
had received a brand new set of a manufacturer's best jump- 
ing stardards and a dozen sticks. Results count more than 
words sometimes. 

Among other good, informal events that can be used in 
playgrounds is the Medicine Ball Race already referred to. 
The main objection to this for outdoor purposes is that the 
balls may not be adapted to open air usages and may get lost, 
but this objection should not apply where there is satisfactory 
discipline or sufficient instructors and assistants. If the balls 
are not feasible tools, the game can be played with other ap- 
pliances, as suggested. 

As an illustration of how a resourceful teacher may over- 
come such handicaps as lack of equipment, it is related that 
in a country school where the play spirit had entered there 
was a desire to have a medicine or basketball relay race. But 
there were no balls nor money to buy them. So the teacher 
led her class to a pumpkin patch where a load of excellent 
equipment was quickly secured, just right for the contest. 
This particular method would not be very feasible in a city 
playground ; pumpkins do not grow in sufficient number on 
brick walls and pavements ; but the idea can be used any- 
where. 

For Medicine Ball Race or Medicine Ball Passing (both 
terms are used properly enough), two sides are chosen as al- 
ready outlined, but each side is lined up in file, each player 

149 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

one to two yards behind the one in front, the first player being 
on the starting line. The exact distance between players will 
depend on room available and size of the class. At a signal 
from the instructor the two players, one in front of each line, 
start a medicine ball rolling backward between his legs spread 
apart. The player behind gives the ball a push as it rolls be- 
tween his legs and each player in line does the same until 
the ball gets to the last man. He runs forward with it as 
fast as he can to the head of the line. There he instantly 
starts it rolling backward again as at first. This is repeated 
until the first man is again at the head of the line, which indi- 
ctes that his side has won. The game may be repeated ; 
usually the players demand an encore. In this case it may 
be arranged that the side winning two out of three rounds, or 
three out of five, will be declared winner of the event. 

With a large class three, four or six lines should be made 
instead of two. Roughly speaking, a dozen players is enough 
for a line. 

A variation of the Medicine Ball Race may be made by 
using Indian clubs and passing them back from hand to 
hand, between the legs ; or, still another variation, over the 
head ; or, still another way, first player passing over the shoul- 
der, second player passing between the legs, and third over the 
shoulder, and so on alternating to the end. The first varia- 
tion has its own name of Indian Club Hustle, an appropriate 
title for obvious reasons. 

The clubs may be shoved backwards on the ground or 
floor. Again a basket ball may be used, each runner being 
required to make a basket before starting the ball backward 
between the legs ; or it may be required of the very last runner 
only that he make a basket. A name for this game is Basket- 
ball Hustle. 

Bean bags may be used by girls in place of clubs or balls 
in either of the foregoing games and variations. 

The Obstacle Racing Game has some interesting features : 
Two contestants start at a time from a line. Each with a bas- 
ket ball. Go under first low obstacle bar. Make goal. Return 
under second obstacle bar to starting line. One making fast- 
est time wins. 

150 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 



This offhand competition event combines several good ele- 
ments of recreative work. It requires good judgment from 
those engaging in it. It is intensely interesting to both con- 
testants and spectators. At no time from start to finish can 
the winner be picked. It requires no practice or experience, 
although both are of advantage. It brings in a feature of in- 
terest to basketball men. Would-be sprinters are likely to re- 
gard it favorably. Any number can take part, the newest man 
as well as the seasoned gymnast or athlete. It can easily be 
adapted for either sex. Boys and girls as well as young men 
and women can use it. It can be introduced in place of a more 
formal game. It works well as an event for an exhibition pro- 





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gram. It requires no new apparatus or material. It is simple 
and readily understood by contestants and spectators. 

The object of the racing game is to carry a basket ball 
from start to finish in the least time without letting it touch 
the floor or ground. The contestants are started in pairs. The 
time of each, or of the fastest, is taken. As many pairs as 
there are to compete are started. If there are not too many, 

151 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

the fastest in each heat are run again, and so on until one is 
the winner. But if there are many contestants this method 
is apt to prolong the event beyond reasonable limits. In that 
case the four best may be selected and run until one is the 
winner. 

Each contestant starts with a basket ball held by his 
hands or arms. He runs to the first obstacle as shown in the 
diagram (B). The obstacle is pair of jumping standards on 
which is a stick placed not more than two feet from the floor. 
(Eighteen inches is better for men and boys.) He must go un- 
der the stick without knocking it off, and then continue his 
run to ordinary basket-ball goal (C) opposite the starting line. 
He has now to put the ball in the basket. As soon as he has 
made the goal he continues with the ball and goes under the 
second obstacle, which is like the first, and back to the finish- 
ing line. 

Time is taken from the instant the starter's signal sounds 
until the line is crossed. If a runner drops or loses hold of his 
ball he must secure it before he continues. If he displaces a 
stick of either obstacle, that is counted a foul, and he must 
drop out. But in such a case he is allowed a second trial. He 
may crawl or roll or get under the bar in any manner he 
chooses. 

The man who starts from the right-hand side of the start- 
ing line will go under the right obstacle first. He will return 
from the goal under the second or left-hand obstacle, and fin- 
ish at the left side of the starting line. The man who starts 
from the left side will take the reverse course. 

By placing the standards on the lawn or on a grass-cov- 
ered field, the game can be carried on with good effect. If the 
pupils will agree, it can be used on a dirt or gravel court, but 
a good bath is very sure to be needed under such conditions. 
If it is not convenient to set up basket-ball goals out of doors, 
this variation can be made : place a box or barrel about ten 
feet from a line which should be at the position of the basket 
or goal marked "C" in the diagram. Have the contestants 
toss the balls into the box or barrel instead of making goals. 

When regulation jumping standards are not available, the 
obstacles can be placed with the ends resting on boxes, stones 
or other supports of sufficient height. 

152 



CHAPTER XXI. 

OTHER GAMES ADAPTED TO PLAYGROUND USE. 

Baseball — Basketball — Indoor Baseball — Volley Ball 
— Lawn Tennis — Playground Ball — Long Ball — 
Class Basketball — Double Corner Ball — Lang Ball — 
Bean Bags — Duck on the Rock — Bull in the Ring — 
Skipping Rope — Atalanta Race — Stone or Potato 
Race — Horses and Riders — Progression in School 
Games. 

Section One. 

Team or Organized Games. 

The preceding chapter has touched on one form of play 
and games. Now we come to consider more particularly 
organized games with regular or temporary teams and other 
paraphernalia ; in the second section of this chapter some 
games that do not need formal organization of teams but 
provide for large numbers of individuals playing at once ; and 
in the third section a plan for systematizing school games for 
educational purposes. 

Of course there is Baseball ; no playground can keep 
house successfully without it. Neither need a new book print 
its rules. A man 35 years old who recently saw his first game 
of indoor baseball in a gymnasium was heard to apologize 
for his ignorance of the national summer game. That is the 
attitude of many men, for not all Americans are baseball 
fiends, and this can be proved in case of need. A live Ameri- 
can boy may not apologize, perhaps, but he will do other 
things equally good for his purpose if he has to reveal an 
ignorance of baseball. 

Indoor Baseball is not baseball out of doors, but it is a 
good substitute. In the playground it can be used for the 
strenuously inclined girls who want to do what their brothers 
do, and has been so used with success. This game is more 
known, even for men, in the West than in the East, but has 
a fairly universal use in the United States. 

153 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Basketball, although nominally an indoor game, is played 
outdoors with good results, by both sexes and all ages. The 
rules are well known or easily secured. 

Volley Ball is used in a good many playgrounds and is 
well adapted for the requirements. The space for a game is 
about equal to that needed for a tennis court. 

Lawn Tennis is a game of apparently increasing popu- 
larity and should find a place in such playgrounds and fields 
as can afford the space needed for the courts. Two courts 
should be installed, and more if possible. If only one court 
is feasible, the officials must decide whether to use the space 
for that purpose or for some other feature. 

Various adaptations and modifications of ball games have 
been made from time to time. Two such are here described : 

By E. B. DeGroot. 

A question which presents itself to every play- 
ground worker is what game may be most easily 
taught and permanently acquired and practiced 
among children of all ages? An investigation in 
the playground, gymnasium or school room will 
demonstrate that it is a game which centers about a 
ball, or. more likely, a ball and a bat. 

The factors involved in playing baseball (strik- 
ing an object with a club, throwing a missile with 
force and accuracy, and running to base to defeat 
the throw of the opponent) express, more than the 
factors in any other game, the activities of our 
early ancestors whose existence depended in great 
measure upon their ability to wield a club, throw 
accurately and run swiftly. Thus great historical 
significance seems to attach to baseball or games 
with ball and bat. This thought is, at least, in har- 
mony with Dr. Gulick's Study of Group Games. 

However that may be, we have observed in Chi- 
cago, with Joseph Lee of Boston, that not many 
games are needed in our playgrounds, but one 
good game, properly worked out and presented will 
give the greatest satisfaction to all concerned. Pro- 
ceeding in accordance with the theory suggested 
above, we have developed two games in our South 
Park Playgrounds which we have named "Play- 
ground Ball," for outdoor use, and "Long Ball," 
for indoor use. The latter is also played outdoors 
but not to great extent. 

Playground Ball. 

Briefly, Playground Ball is our traditional game 
of American baseball so modified that it may be 
played in large cities and restricted areas in spite 
of the adverse conditions found in these places. This 
form of baseball is also intended to give encourage- 

154 




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ment to a prolonged period of playing the national 
game among men who have passed the age or physi- 
cal condition when they may comfortably handle 
a hard ball or run thirty yards between bases. 
Some of the more distinctive features of this game 
are as follows : The cost of equipment is very in- 
significant, there being no reason for the use of 
mask, protector, mit or gloves. Ten players con- 
stitute a side, thus engaging two more players than 
are engaged in a game of baseball. This game will 
not lend itself readily to the commercial and pro- 
fessional tendencies so common in baseball. It is 
distinctively a game for "fun," to be played by either 
young or old gentlemen. 

The diamond may be laid out in a school yard, 
playground, vacant lot, golf club grounds, tennis 
courts, or on a lawn. The ball is too soft and yield- 
ing to injure players or spectators. The first batter 
at bat, at his own discretion (rule XXIV) may run 
to either third or first base. This play opens pos- 
sibilities for perception and action that are exlcuded 
in baseball. It will also more frequently engage the 
fielders on the left side of the diamond. 

Scoring by points (rule XIII) gives each playre 
and team credit for every successful play that places 
a man on base. This method of scoring (five 
innings constituting full game) enables school 
and playground leagues to conduct tournaments and 
play a great number of games in a single afternoon, 
with slight probability of ending with tie score. 
Some of the rules unlike baseball are as follows : 

Rule I. (The Diamond.) Each side of the dia- 
mond shall be 35 feet long. The distance from 
home base to second base and from first to third 
base shall be 48 1-2 feet. Bases shall be 18 inches 
square, and the home base 12 inches square. The 
pitcher's plate shall be 10 x 12 inches and shall be 
fixed 30 feet from home base on a straight line be- 
tween home base and second base. The batsman's 
box (one to the left and one to the right of the 
home base) shall be four feet long and three feet 
wide, extending one foot in front of and 3 feet 
behind the centre of the home base, with the near- 
est side six inches from the home base. 

In the South Park playgrounds we make the 
bases and pitcher's plate of wood, sink and fix them 
flush with the earth and paint them white. (2x4- 
inch stick of lumber is used for a pitcher's plate and 
strips of hard wood screwed to 2 x 4-inch sticks, are 
iispd tot* riJisps 

Rule III. (The Ball.) The ball shall not be less 
than 12 inches nor more than 14 inches in circum- 
ference. It shall not be less than 8 ounces nor more 
than 8 3-4 ounces in weight. It shall be made of a 
yielding substance covered with a white covering. 
The 14-inch ball is recommended for use where the 
playing space is a small area. 

Rule IV. (The Bat.) The bat shall be 2 3-4 
feet long and not larger than 2 inches in diameter 

1.55 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

at the largest part. It shall be made entirely of 
wood. 

Rule V. (The Players.) Ten players shall con- 
stitute a side or team. The players' positions shall 
be such as shall be assigned them by their captain, 
except that the pitcher must take his position with- 
in the pitcher's lines as denned in Rule VI, while 
in the act of delivering the ball to the bat. There 
shall be three outfielders, right and left short stops, 
three basemen and a battery. 

Rule VI. (The Pitcher.) The pitcher shall take 
his position facing the batter with both feet on 
the ground in front of the pitcher's plate, and when 
in the act of delivering the ball to the bat must 
keep one foot in contact with pitcher's plate. He 
shall not take more than one step in delivering the 
ball, and his pitching arm must swing parallel 
with the body. Before delivering the ball to the 
batter he shall hold the ball in front of his body and 
in sight of the batter. 

Rule XVIII. (Scoring.) One run shall be 
scored every time a base runner, after having legally 
touched the first three bases, shall touch the home 
base before three men are put out. If the third man 
is forced out, or is put out before reaching legal 
base, a run shall not be scored. The game may 
be scored by points instead of runs, as follows : 
Whenever a player arrives safely on a base, one 
point shall be scored for his side. It shall not make 
any difference whether a man is left on base when 
three men and his side are retired. If a player 
completes the circuit of the bases, four points shall 
be scored for his side. 

Rule XXIV. (Order of Bases.) Base run- 
ners shall touch each base in regular order, i.e., 
either first, second, third and home base ; or, third, 
second, first and home base. The first batter at 
bat, or when there is no runner on base, shall have 
the option of running to either first or third base. 
The next batter shall run the bases in the same or- 
der. Example : The batter must run to third base 
after he hits the ball, or is entitled to a base, if 
the previous batter ran to third instead of first base, 
and is still on base. 

Rule XXVI. (When Base Runners May Start.) 

(a) A base runner shall not leave his base when 
the pitcher holds the ball, standing in his box. 

(b) A base runner shall not leave his base on a 
pitched ball not struck until after it has left the 
pitcher's hand when in the act of delivering it to 
the bat. He shall be called back if a premature start 
is made. 

(c) A base runner shall be on his base when 
the pitcher is ready to deliver the ball to the bat. 

Note : Starting too soon (b) shall not exempt 
a base runner from being put out on that particular 
play. The umpire must not make a decision in re- 
gard to a premature start until the base runner has 
reached the next base or is put out. 

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When ■ substitute goes in write his nunc in vacant space and draw s vertical line across hit own space tad space of oppooeot. 

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157 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 




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Diagram for Playground Ball. 

Long Ball. 

This game is a modification of Indoor Base Ball, 
which we have found too slow and too technical 
where great numbers are involved. The game is best 
played in a room, gymnasium or court where the 
ball does not readily pass beyond the reach of the 
fielders. If played on the playground, a court fifty 
by sixty feet should be marked out and surrounded 
by a high wire fence. 

Played in the gymnasium, we use the regular 
indoor base ball, bat, home base, pitcher's and bat- 
ter's boxes. Not less than 35 feet nor more than 50 
feet in front of the home base is placed ''long base," 
a 5 x 10-ft. mat. 

All base running is confined to a run between 
long base and home base. Choose any number of 
players on a side. We find that ten to twelve play- 
ers on a side give the best results. The pitcher and 
catcher take the regular positions of these players. 
The other players on the fielding side may take 
any position in the field. Eliminate all foul lines. 
Every inch of floor or court in front or back of the 
borne base is fair ground. Any ball that hits the 
bat is a fair ball. 

The batsman must stand in his box facing the 
pitcher and must swing his bat towards the pitcher 
or straight up, or "bunt." The batter must run 
to long base on the third strike or on any ball that 
may hit his bat. He may be put out by (1) a fly 
catch when the ball has not touched any object ex- 
cept the bat (2) by being "tagged" with the ball in 
the hands of a fielder (3) by being hit with the 
ball when thrown by a fielder. Failure to hit the 
third strike does not put the batter out, even if 
the ball be held by the catcher. In this case the 
runner must be hit or "tagged" with the ball. In 

158 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

running to long base the runner may run in any 
direction in front of the home base, i. e., dodge, zig- 
zag or slide. 

Any number of base runners may be on long base 
at the same time, except that the side at bat must 
have a player "home" and ready to bat, otherwise 
the side at bat shall retire. After leaving long base 
in an attempt to run home the base runner may 
not return to long base but must complete the play. 
One run is scored each time a base runner touches 
home base after legally touching long base before 
three men are put out. 



Organized Outdoor Games for Girls 
By Caroline M. Wollaston. 

Organized games in the open air take the place of 
formal gymnastics for one half of the school year 
in the Girls' High School in Brooklyn, New York. 
These games are not optional but are a part of the 
regular school work and taught by the physical 
training teachers. Girls are not asked whether or 
not they wish to play; all the twenty-four hundred 
play except the very few excused for good reasons 
by a physician. As far as can be arranged each 
class has two forty-five minute periods weekly dur- 
ing school hours for this purpose in the last ten 
weeks in the spring and the first ten weeks in the 
fall. Four teaehcrs and four classes may be seen in 
the yard during most of every day. 

The grade of the class determines the game that 
is played. Different games are used for the differ- 
ent grades, but only the lowest grade uses a va- 
riety of games. Experience has shown that after 
the first term the girls enjoy more having but one 
kind of game for the ten weeks' season, and de- 
veloping more or less skill in it, than having sev- 
eral kinds of games. 

Each class elects two captains who choose their 
respective followers, the opposing sides being indi- 
cated by different colored ribbons tied on the arms. 
The honor of being captain carries with it respon- 
sibility not only for the skillful playing of that 
side, but for fair playing, good discipline, quietness, 
and harmony. The choice of captains and sides 
is kept for a season as it fosters a spirit of rivalry. 
A record of the score is kept by the captains and 
the total score to date is sometimes of as much in- 
terest as is the daily score. 

It has been necessary to devise or adapt games 
that will furnish active exercise for from twenty 
to forty high school girls at the same time, which 
can be played in a limited space, i. e., a dirt court 
thirty-five by forty-five feet. (This court is sur- 
rounded by a stone walk with grass outside of it, 
and so seems larger than it measures but the ac- 

159 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

tual playing must be confined to the dirt court.) 
Two of the games that have proved useful and 
popular are described below. When favorites like 
Captain Ball and Boundary Ball are so well known 
they need only be mentioned. 

Class Basket Ball 

The girls are first paired off according to height, 
a red and a blue together, and each couple is given 
a number that indicates in which part of the court 
they are to begin playing. The court (35x45 feet) 
is divided by white lines into nine smaller courts, 
and the baskets are placed at the sides instead of 
at the ends of the court. (See diagram No. 1.) 

For convenience it is assumed that the little 
courts are numbered in the order shown, so that 
a couple given the number "5," for example, knows 
at once where to go. Usually two or four girls go 
to each little court, though sometimes it may be 
necessary to place six girls in some of them to ac- 
commodate a large class. Each time a ball is put 
into the basket (or oftener if it seems advisable) 
the order is given to change courts, and all prog- 
gress to the court bearing the highest number, the 
girls in 9 of course going to 1. This is done in 
order to prevent certain girls from having the most 
desirable positons throughout the lesson, and to give 
all girls the opportunity to play in all positions, thus 
making all round players of them and forcing the 
retiring, less aggressive girls to do a full share of 
the work. If there is an odd girl without an op- 
ponent she is placed in 9 and stays there without 
progressing. 

The game is started like other basket ball by the 
teacher passing the ball in the air between two op- 
posing players in 9, each facing her own basket. 
The blues all work now to get the ball into the blue 
basket and the reds into the red basket. Each ball 
put into a basket counts one point for the side 
whose basket it passed through. A girl need not 
be in 2 or 6 in order to try to put a ball into the 
basket but may try at any time to do so provided 
she is not outside the large court. 

When the ball goes out of the large court only 
one girl has the right to go after it, — the first one 
over the line. The others must go back. No one 
may go out after a ball unless the ball crossed her 
court line as it went out. 

The ball must be thrown from where it is picked 
up ; no walking with the ball is allowed either within 
or without the court. As a penalty for not ob- 
serving this rule, the transgressor must hand the 
ball to her opponent. 

Players must stay in their own little courts, 
though no penalty is attached to momentary step- 
ping over the line with one foot in the excitement 
of rapid catching and passing. 

Guarding is done by holding arms or hands over 
opponent's ball to hinder her aim, being careful not 

160 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 



to touch either her arms or the ball. Any girl 
who holds a ball too long must give it to her op- 
ponent. Only one girl is allowed to guard a 
thrower, in order to prevent bunching of the players. 

When two girls get possession of the ball the one 
who got it first has the right to it, and the other 
girl gives up. This saves many delays. In the rare 
cases where the girls cannot decide this instantly for 
themselves the ball is tossed up between them as 
in the regulation game. 

Experience has shown that when a blue girl in 2 
gets the ball it is not usually wise to throw the 
ball to 6 by way of 9 as too much bunching of 
players results. It is often better to throw to either 
1 or 3 and so around the edge to 6, though no rule 
forbids her throwing the ball wherever she pleases. 
The more zig-zag the path of the ball the more 
open the game, and short passes make a better game 
than long ones. 

Double Corner Ball. 

For this game two basket balls are used, and the 
court (35x45 feet) is marked as indicated in the 
diagram with two small circles in the middle and 
goals six feet square in the corners. Two sepa- 
rate games are played at the same time. (See dia- 
gram No. 2.) 

Each captain chooses two goal keepers, — girls 
who can jump and catch well, and then numbers 
her remaining players, including herself, for guards. 
Any number can play, and if there are more players 
on one side than on the other it makes no difference. 
All take positions as indicated in the diagram with 
No. 1 red and No. 1 blue in the circles, holding the 
balls. No. 1 red tries to throw the ball to the red 
goal keeper in A, throwing it if possible over the 
heads of the blue guards standing in front of A, 
who try to catch or even touch the ball. If the red 
goal keeper catches the ball, and no blue guard has 
succeeded in touching the ball first, the red goal 
keeper scores one point. 

Whoever catches or picks up the ball throws it 
back to the circle from which it came to No. 2 red 
who must be there to receive it without being sum- 
moned (No. 1 red having at once joined the group 
of guards), as when the numbers were given she 
noticed whom she followed. 

She tries to throw the ball to the red goal keeper 
in B. The ball is returned to the same circle and 
No. 3 red receives it and throws to the red goal 
keeper in A, and so the game goes on, odd num- 
bers throwing to the goal keeper on their right 
and even numbers to the goal keeper on their left. 

Meanwhile the blue with the other ball have been 
doing the same thing. Each girl (except the goal 
keepers) really plays in both games, that is, each 
red girl is a thrower in her own game and a guard 
in the other game. 
Each girl must keep one foot on her own boundary, 

l6l 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 



must not step on her opponent's territory, and 
may have one foot on neutral territory (i. e., the 
stone walk outside the large court). When either 
side violates this rule a point is added to the score 
of the other side. 

Great alertness is needed to make this game a suc- 
cess. Each girl should come to the circle at the 
proper time so that it will never be empty. No. I 
of course follows the last number. 

As one side may play faster than the other it is 
not necessary that No. 6 red and No. 6 blue, for 
example, should be in the circles at the same time. 
Each game goes on independent of the other. 

The advantage of having two games is that it 
gives each girl more work to do, as her turn comes 
twice as often. Four goal keepers are used instead 
of two to divide the work of the most responsible 
position. Numbering the girls is done to equalize 
the work. The same goal keepers are not used 



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every time, in fact a new set of goal keepers is 
often put in in the middle of a lesson. 

In addition to the goal keepers' score the guards' 
score is kept This was shown to be necessary as 
the guards soon developed the habit of jumping 
and touching the ball, but not holding it, thus pre- 
venting the goal keeper from scoring, but weaken- 
ing their own ability to catch Therefore each 
guard counts the balls she herself catches and holds 
no matter where she is standing, whether her posi- 
tion is guard or in the circle, and no matter how 
many others may have touched the ball. 

The score for the day for either side is the sum 
of all the balls caught according to the above rules, 
by the goal keepers and guards on that side. 



Section Two. 

GAMES WITH TEMPORARY SIDES. 

Among the games that do not call for permanent organi- 
zation, always serviceable and interesting, good old stand-bys 
for small and large classes are Three Deep, Cat and Mouse, 
Spud, Hang Tag, Drop the Handkerchief, Fox and Hounds, 
and more of like type. Three Deep can be used with a class 
of any age. The writer has seen a class of bald headed 
business men and another of boys, average age 12 years, 
playing it in one afternoon. Cat and Mouse works better with 
small boys or girls. Spud is for older boys and young men, 
but small boys like it too. Hang Tag is for young men 
especially. Drop the Handkerchief is good for girls and small 
boys. There is a variation that older boys and young men 
will play with pleasure, in which a towel or ravelled rope is 
used in place of the handkerchief and the pursued player hit 
as many times as possible over the back or, still better, over 
bare legs. 

Even a game that is good from the standpoint of the 
players may grow tiresome, but a wise instructor will be able 
to introduce variations so that the essential features of the 
old game may be retained in the new form. For instance, in 
the game of Three Deep the runner may be made to run as 
short a time as possible, thus making the game livelier than 
when he goes around the circle three or four or half a dozen 
times without being tagged. 

A good game, but a bit strenuous and adapted to large 
boys and young men, is called Wrestling Circle, or Circle 

163 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Ball. Here the players grasp hands in a circle about a group 
of Indian clubs. There are just as many clubs as players. 
Each man tries to avoid hitting a club and all the other 
players try to make him do just that. When a club is hit and 
knocked down, the man hitting it drops out of the circle and 
takes a club with him. Then the game goes on until all but 
two men have been removed. The two may fight it out a 
long time before they give up or one is the victor. If a group 
of strenuous men who will usually turn up noses at "games" 
can be induced to try this they may have a different opinion 
of it toward its end. 

A good game for men, especially for business men, for 
whom it is not always easy to get good recreation, is Lang 
Ball, also called Hang Base Ball. Here the principles of 
baseball are retained but the batter uses no wooden bat. He 
hangs by his hands to some piece of apparatus high enough 
to permit his feet to be clear of ground or floor. He kicks 
the ball as it is tossed by the pitcher. Bases are run by the 
batter as in baseball. A basketball or round football is usually 
used. Any number may play. Sides may be chosen or batters 
may play in order, as in a "scrub" game of baseball. Rules 
may be adapted to local conditions, but as a general thing 
three fouls entitle a batter to rest. If he misses a tossed ball 
it counts as a strike ; if he hits the ball except with his feet 
or legs below the knees it is a foul ; a ball going behind the 
bar or support from which the batter hangs, after being 
struck, is a foul ; a fly ball caught anywhere is out. If the 
ball is light, as a basketball, the runner may be hit with it 
between bases and so be put out. 

Bean Bag Tossing for girls and some classes of small 
boys is useful. (See Chapter 30, Country Games.) 

Duck on the Rock is approved by small boys and often 
by older boys and young men. Bull in the Ring is willingly 
played by both boys and girls. 

Skipping and Jumping Ropes are necessary for the girls, 
and are entitled to a place among games. The instructor 
should endeavor to show the children how to jump properly, 
gymnastically ; that k, on balls of feet and not much on heels 
with the spine jarring and other undesirable features that 
have sometimes caused jumping or skipping ropes to be 

164 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

barred out from playground use. Not too much rope jumping 
should be permitted young children for physiological reasons. 
Rope jumping is good for men training for athletic competi- 
tion, and for policemen and firemen who need agility as well 
as all round "shaking up." 

The Atalanta Race is good for either boys or girls. Real 
apples may be used or some substitute. The distance run is 
usually one hundred yards from the starting line to the finish- 
ing tape, the apples being placed midway and being picked up 
by the runners while going at full speed. 

A variation of this game is styled The Ring and Apple 
Race. Six small hoops or rings, made of cardboard or any 
suitable material, about nine inches in diameter, are placed 
in a row on the ground where the apples were placed in the 
previous event. The runners start with apples in their right 
hands. As they pass the rings on the ground they stoop 
down and place the apples within the rings and continue 
running to the tape, there turning and running back to the 
starting point, which is also the finishing line, picking up the 
apples on the way back. If the apples are not placed squarely 
within the rings the missing runner must stop until the apple 
is properly placed. — (Adapted from Alexander.) 

(See drawings of these events, page 145.) 

Stone or Potato Race. — This is something similar to the 
two events just described except that there are several objects 
tc be picked up instead of one. Real or imitation potatoes, 
small stones, dumbbells or even other objects may be used. 
They are placed in rows equal distance apart. In the original 
form of potato race, large milk cans are used to hold the 
potatoes, but any sort of a receptacle is satisfactory, or the 
potatoes may be deposited in a hole in the ground, or within 
a circle marked out. The runners start from a line, each one 
gathering the potatoes in his own row and depositing them 
one at a time at the starting line. The one finishing first wins. 
The distance to be run may be regulated by the number of 
potatoes as well as by the distance apart. The instructor 
should bear in mind that the distance run, under constant 
tension, is five or six times the length of the row of potatoes, 
hence children should not undertake long distances. 

For men of advanced muscular ability there are two good 

165 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUXDS 

ways to apply the same idea. One is to use twelve or sixteen 
pound shot in place of potatoes. The other is to use boys 
instead of potatoes. In this case the boys stand in a row 
equal distance apart, while the men gather them up one at a 
time and bring them to the starting line. This is a strenuous 
event, but it has lots of fun for spectators and competitors. 

Horses and Riders is of similar nature to the foregoing. 
A circle 18 feet in diameter is marked on the ground. The 
players are evenly divided. One side., horses, are placed at 
equal distances around the circle, facing the center. The 
other side, riders, stand behind them. One rider has a ball. 
An indoor baseball is suitable or a basketball may be used. 
At a signal each rider mounts the back of his horse, the horse 
leaning forward, thus giving the rider a flat seat, which must 
be retained without aid of hands or legs. The rider having 
the ball tosses it in the air and catches it twice without dis- 
mounting. Then he throws the ball to any other rider, who 
must catch it. toss and catch twice, and then throw to another 
rider. If a rider fails to catch the ball at any time or in any 
way dismounts, all the riders immediately dismount and run 
away. The horses remain in the circle. One horse gets the 
ball and throws it at one of the fleeing riders to hit him. If 
hit, the riders return to the ring and become horses, the 
former horses being the riders. If the thrower fails to hit a 
rider the game is renewed by the riders remounting their 
horses, the rider of the horse who threw the ball starting the 
game. Each horse and rider should be as nearly as possible 
of like physique and should play together throughout the^ 
game. — (Adapted from Chesterton.) 



Section Three. 

PROGRESSION IN SCHOOL GAMES. 

A method for classifying games of ball in a public school 
system of physical training for outdoor use was presented by 
William A. Stecher in "Mind and Body." The plan was an 
attempt to train pupils so that grade by grade they would 
master the various activities in ever increasing difficulty that 
go to make a good ball player. The plan in detail is described 
as follows : 

In Grade I the children are taught to toss and catch a 

166 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

bean bag. These simple movements train the sight and 
develop accuracy of motion. The games used are: I. The 
tossing up of the bag and again catching it. 2. Tossing the 
bag to a partner. 3. Tossing it up, catching it and then tossing 
the bag to a partner. 4. The so-called game of Teacher. 

In Grade II the simple forms of the first grade are varied 
and made more difficult by introducing hand clapping before 
a bag is caught ; for instance : Toss up, clap hands and catch 
the bag; toss up, clap hands twice, or three times, arid catch. 

In Grade III throwing (in place of tossing) is introduced 
as a means for securing speed and accuracy of motion by 
greater freedom of the arm movements. Catching is made 
more difficult by using a ball instead of a bag, a basket ball 
or a large gas ball being used. The games take the form of 
distance throwning; throwing at an object, throwing to a 
partner, or tossing up a large ball and catching it. Boundball 
is played, which consists of throwing the ball to the ground 
and catching it when it rebounds ; or in tossing it up into the 
air and catching it when it rebounds from the ground. 

In Grade IV a small rubber ball is used to play the games 
of the third grade. As the accuracy increases the ball is 
thrown to partner. Later it is thrown up into the air, caught 
and then thrown to a partner. As Boundball it is batted 
against the ground with the hand as many times as possible. 

In Grade V the children are led to throw and catch the 
large ball while moving about. The games take the form of 
Throwball. There are two sides, the pupils of one side always 
trying to throw the ball to one of their own side, running 
wherever they like in doing so. No talking or interfering is 
allowed. Here we find the beginning of team work. By 
means of Grace hoops accuracy is taught to the girls both 
in throwing and catching, while the boys acquire both judg- 
ment and accuracy in tossing Quoits or Horseshoes. 

In Grade VI accuracy and judgment are developed still 
more by the addition of batting a ball. A ball game of low 
organization furnishes the means of developing team work. 
The game is Bat up. There are three positions in the game, 
viz. : a batter, a pitcher, and fielders. The pitcher tosses the 
ball, which is batted with the open or closed hand. When the 
ball — a basketball— is caught on a fly the batter is out, the 
one catching it taking his place. 

167 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Accuracy and quickness of movement are also developed 
by Passball. When playing this the class stands in a circle, 
facing inward, shoulder to shoulder. A basketball is quickly 
passed to the right or left, out of the way of the runner who 
tries to tag it. A variation is to have the runner on the inside 
and throw the ball over his head to a player standing opposite. 

Throwing and catching a soft rubber ball is also prac- 
ticed (a baseball is too dangerous in most school yards). 

In Grade VII games of a higher organization hold the 
interest of the pupils. The sixth grade's game of bat up 
develops into Batball with five positions. These are two 
batters, a catcher, a pitcher, a baseman and fielders. A large 
or a small rubber ball is batted with the hand or fist and the 
simpler, fundamental rules of baseball are learned. If a batter 
is put out all the players move up into the next higher place. 
The put out batter is made a fielder. 

As a preparatory game for basketball Captain ball is 
played with from six to ten pupils on a side. 

When a high blank wall is available Handball is played. 
This is an excellent game which in a high degree develops 
quickness, accuracy and judgment. It is one of the few ball 
games where only two, four or six players are needed in order 
to play a first class game. 

In Grade VIII we have Basketball. This is played 
according to the revised rules. According to the size of the 
playground the field is divided either into two or three equal 
parts. If it is divided into two parts the centers have the 
right to run anywhere. 

In this grade Baseball, the best of all organized team 
games, is played as hand-basketball. Each side has a full 
nine and the game is played according to the regular rules, 
the only exceptions being the size of the diamond, the ball, 
which is either a soft rubber ball or a basketball, and lastly 
the bat, the batting being done either with the open or closed 
hand. 

The games described above, as well as the other games, 
are placed at recess, of which we daily have two of 15 minutes 
each ; also during every second regular gymnastic period. At 
present the length of these periods in the lower grades is 5 
minutes twice a day, and in the upper grades 10 minutes once 

168 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

a day. The play apparatus belongs to the school. It is bought 
with money realized by giving exhibitions, or by donations. 
Note. — Description of nearly all the games and forms of 
exercise mentioned in this chapter, as well as events referred 
to in other parts of the book, are readily found in standard 
publications. (See also Chapter 30.) In case there is trouble 
in finding the desired detailed iniormation, a note with stamp 
for reply, addressed to the publishers of this book, will bring 
prompt reply. 

GRADING OF GYMNASTIC GAMES FOR 
OUTDOOR USE. 

Condensed by permission from a paper by George 
Wittich, director of physical training, public schools, 
Milwaukee, Wis. 

School pupils must be taught a progressively arranged 
and carefully designed series of games throughout their whole 
school life. The first directions and the rules should be 
imparted by the principals or teachers. After that the games 
may be conducted by pupils (leaders) who are appointed by 
the principals or teachers. Nothing can promote self govern- 
ment better than this method. Suitable play apparatus is of 
immense value in more than one way and should be installed. 

Our state normal schools can do very much along the 
line of educating the play spirit of our young and directing it 
in accordance with the demands of the child and those of the 
times, by giving more attention to true and pure educational 
physical training and embodying a play course into their 
curriculum. 

Dividing the gymnastic games which are designed for 
the playground and gymnasium according to their effects, 
gives us the following groups: 1. Games that will improve 
circulation, respiration, co-ordination, quickness of reaction 
and alertness. Pomp, Pomp, Pull Away is one of the games. 
It belongs to those designed for little folks on account of its 
simple organization. The alternate running and resting accel- 
erates heart and lung activity in a wholesome manner, and 
the catching, dodging and evading develop quickness of reac- 
tion and alertness. The captor of one pupil experiences the 

169 



AM ERIC AX PLA YGRO UNDS 

same joyful feeling of satisfaction that makes the eyes sparkle 
and the heart swell, as the other pupil does who was agile 
and alert enough to evade him a moment before. Black and 
White develops quicker reaction better. 

Prisoner's Base belongs to the same type but is of a higher 
organization and is therefore reserved for the pupils of the 
higher grades and those of the high school. 

2. Games that are suitable for the development of reso- 
lute and energetic action and strength. Combative games 
with and without the rope and the wand develop these facul- 
ties better than any other form of physical exercise because 
each contestant has an intelligent being before him to oppose 
his attacks, both contestants are beings who can plan attack 
and defense equally in an intelligent manner. In the simple 
tug of war game the adult finds as much pleasure and satis- 
faction as the little tot does, and will, by exercising an 
obstinate resistance, improve his energy, determination and 
strength. 

Wrestling for a stick, hand-pulling and pushing and wres- 
tling without the stick belong to the more advanced forms 
and are suitable for the pupils of the higher grades and those 
of the high school. 

3. Games designed for improving accuracy of movement 
of the arms and judgment of the eye. These qualities are 
developed in all throwing and catching games. The simple 
bean bag game will suffice in the lower grades either as a 
throwing and catching game or as a game in which the bag 
is thrown at a mark or an object as at an Indian club. Throw- 
ing and catching combined with turning, also with forward 
and backward running, will follow in the course of the pro- 
gression and therefore belong to a somewhat higher order. 

Battle ball, Captain ball and Baseball belong to the same 
type and are suitable for the pupils of the higher grades and 
those of the high school. 

The pupils must be taught from beginning to play for the 
sake of playing and for the enjoyment of the exercise which 
they can get out of the game. To us teachers the game is 
one of the most pleasant and agreeable means to gain impor- 
tant educational ends. In the selection of the game we must 
always consider the condition of the pupils. To play a game 
of high organization or to take a strenuous combative exer- 

170 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

cise after a lesson in a hard study, for instance mathematics, 
is absolutely wrong. Mental work affects also the motor 
nerve centers to some degree ; motor nerves as well as muscles 
become less susceptible through long continued mental work 
and lose the ability to respond quickly during the study- 
period and also for some time afterwards. Therefore stren- 
uous physical efforts and complicated movements require a 
greater degree of will-power after long mental work than 
when the mind is fresh. For that reason basketball, for 
instance, is out of the question directly after a long period of 
mental work ; games of a more simple organization are then 
in place. 

COMBATIVE AND COMPETITIVE FEATURES FOR 

SCHOOL YARDS. 

By George Wittich. 

(Originally published in "Mind and Body.") 

Combative games such as tug-of-war with a long staff or 
rope pulling and pushing in couples with or without the use 
of the short wand, Foot in the Hole, Rooster Fight, Pig in 
the Pen, etc., are excellent means for promoting quickness of 
reaction, resoluteness of action, determination and carriage, 
and should be taken * * * * once a week as a fourth unit of 
the day's order if the exercises are conducted in the school 
yard. In each case seven to ten minutes should be allowed 
out of every fifteen for this form of exercises. If the exercises 
are taken in the yard the greater part of two out of five 
weekly lessons should be taken up with running games, 
jumping over swinging rope, high jump, broad jump, hop, 
step and jump, and pole vault. 

It is an easy matter for the older boys to loosen the 
ground in some remote corner of the yard sufficiently deep 
to enable them to practice the above named forms of jumping 
in a manner beneficial to themselves. Jumping is an excellent 
means for developing powerful lower extremities and also 
judgment of sight, co-ordination and general control, besides 
stimulating heart and lung action. Besides the physiological 
and psychological effects, these athletic exercises enable the 
young to notice their improvement in skill and strength and 

171 



AMERICAN PLA YGRO UNDS 

to exercise a friendly competition, which is in itself a' stimulus 
and an incentive to higher effort. 

Jumping over the swinging rope is an excellent invigor- 
ating and strengthening exercise for girls and smaller boys. 
The pupils gladly furnish the necessary rope, which should be 
of the weight of a wash line. 

Bean bags of from one to four pounds or a football may 
be used as missiles for throwing at a mark or as apparatus 
for throwing and catching for the purpose of promoting accu- 
racy of motion and quickness of co-ordination. It is advisable 
to divide the class into two divisions and place them opposite 
to each other in order to enable the members to throw or put 
the same object alternately. Putting is a more direct move- 
ment of the arm than throwing; it is a vigorous straightening 
of the arm whose hand holds the bean bag above the shoul- 
der. If the throwing is accompanied by bending and straight- 
ening of the legs and turning of the trunk it is an excellent 
co-ordination exercise for the principal parts of the body. 
These exercises should be practiced left and right in order to 
prevent one-sided development. Jumping over the swinging 
rope and all exercises with the bean bag can be executed in 
the hall as well as in the yard. 

The yard and the hall permit a large number of games, 
but only those that employ a large number of pupils at one 
time and the many forms of combative games should be con- 
sidered. 

The game, like the combative and athletic exercises, must 
be the last unit of a lesson for the following reasons : — 

i. The most natural activities occur during the game, 
and new ones are easily mechanized ; consequently the pupils 
take to this form of exercise more willingly and gladly. 

2. Combative games train not only the muscular system 
but also the physical qualities, which is of far wider reaching 
importance. They give rise to fair play, judgment, determina- 
tion and effort. 

3. All games create a cheerful frame of mind that causes 
the pupils to long for the lesson in physical training. 

The simpler games with the football can be taken up in 
the lower grades and developed to "Captain Ball" in the 7th 
and 8th grades. 

172 



CHAPTER XXII. 

INTERESTING THE BIG BROTHERS, FATHERS 

AND UNCLES. 

Men and Women Who Live in Cities Need to be 
Shown How to Recreate — Meet Their Known Inter- 
ests — Find a Point of Beginning — Tug-of-War — 
Quoits — Hand Ball — Medicine Ball. 

Men not only do not require very much direction in their 
playground work as compared to children, but are apt to re- 
sent any but the most tactfully given supervision. But as 
men ought to retain much of their boyhood traits, and as 
many of them do either openly or just below the surface, it is 
not so difficult to deal with them as might be supposed. A 
playground instructor can reveal possibilities in outdoor gym- 
nastics, athletics and games to most men who live in cities. 
Perhaps if gymnasiums and playgrounds were more com- 
mon and those that are here were more used, more men would 
know more without additional information about how to play 
and recreate. This will be a fruit of present playground and 
physical training activities. 

We so constantly associate children and playgrounds that 
we are apt to forget that the grown-ups need relaxation, recre- 
ation, play, games, physical training and all the rest quite as 
truly as the small boys or the girls. Any proper public play- 
ground system must provide for the men — the fathers and 
uncles and big brothers. They need such attention and need 
to be shown how they can be individually benefited. Not 
enough of them, perhaps, will spontaneously respond to the 
attractions of a "playground" under that title, but call it, or 
their part of it, an "outdoor gymnasium" or a "recreation 
field" or an "athletic field" and they will respond better. 

The play instinct never quite dies out of a man's nature 
unless he is abnormal. Too many men are abnormal in that 

173 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

they have been educated away from habits of joyous play, 
invigorating physical exercise for the good it would do them, 
and the feeling of personal freedom to express their instinc- 
tive rights. This is due largely to environments, to condi- 
tions of modern civilization that must be changed. 

One of the problems of physical training as of playground 
work in the same direction is how to adapt it to the real in- 
terests and needs of those who ought to allow themselves to 
be benefited. We make a little progress certainly if we use 
titles that seem understandable and suitable to the people we 
want to reach. It is not so vitally important that we insist 
on our own technically correct names for things as that we 
get the people to really understand what we are talking and 
working for. 

To illustrate : Many men in gymnasiums conducted by 
directors who are in the front rank of the physical training 
profession are taking "a course in physical culture," no mat- 
ter what the directors say about it. The directors may con- 
demn privately and publicly what is popularly promoted un- 
der the often delusive title of "physical culture" and always 
call their work physical training or gymnastics, but the aver- 
age man knows very little of the difference and cares less. 

So, as we try to get full-grown men to make more use of 
public "playgrounds" we find an obstacle in that name, unless 
because of extraordinary local reasons the popularity of the 
place overshadows the name. Or, again, unless we meet them 
on their own ground. 

One thing must be looked out for in any playground that 
tries to attract young and older men : they must not be al- 
lowed to make the ground a select loafing place. The play- 
ground, for a list of reasons, is no place for "bums," "drunks" 
and all the species of the too-strong-to-work type. For this 
reason some playgrounds in rougher sections of cities have 
taken out benches, which seems to be attacking the problem 
from the wrong end. Intelligent supervision, firm policing 
and less of the "get off the earth" attitude might find response 
from full-grown or embryo "bums." This is a legitimate line 
of playground effort. 

Business and professional men are most likely to be inter- 
ested in gymnastic work, as individuals or in groups and 

174 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

classes. Being men used to exercising their intellects, they 
can be easily shown the reasons why open-air exercise is bene- 
ficial. They will, in most cases, object to doing their work 
in public, and for continued interest they must have restricted 
hours or an enclosed space so that they may be boys again 
free from the restraint of disrespectful spectators. After a 
while, by tactful leadership, they may be willing to appear 
in public, being more sure of their own footing and less afraid 
of being laughed at. 

Business and professional men will recognize, as soon as 
it has been demonstrated to them, the great value of play and 
games to their individual cases. For working men, meaning 
those who labor with hands and tools more than with brains 
mostly, formal classes of any sort may not suit. But there 
are other ways to interest them. 

Men of this type are interested in the Tug-of-War, al- 
though this contest is less popular now than a few years ago. 

A point of beginning may be to get- them to accompany 
the mother and children in the early evening just to sit on 
the benches or the grass and do nothing but watch — and rest 
amid good surroundings. The next step is to get them in- 
terested in some bit of activity for their own benefit. Once 
find the point of interest and the rest is comparatively simple. 

Just a private word for officials and committees : When 
you plan a playground please don't forget the men — the fath- 
ers, uncles and big brothers — by planning everything for the 
small boy's benefit. Reserve a definite space, if possible, for 
the men just as you do for the women. 

A good game for men is Lang Ball, described in Chapter 

21. 

Pitching Quoits is a man's sport, not very strenuous, but 
interesting to those who get to like it. No apparatus is 
needed, but the regular disks and steel rod are best. A few 
old horse shoes and a stick driven in the ground will answer 
if necessary. (See "Popular Gymnastics," Betz., for direct- 
ions and rules.) 

Hand Ball is real exercise, good fun and quite acceptable 
to young men and some older men. It is much in use by 
policemen, firemen, athletes in training, and prize fighters. It 
can be so played as to be strenuous enough for any of these 

175 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

men, or it can be moderate enough for the lawyer, dentist or 
school teacher from whom only mild exercise is prescribed. 
Hand ball requires nothing but a blank wall or a high fence, 
a ball and a piece of ground to play from. But it may have 
the regulation hand-ball court and all the appliances allow- 
able by the rules. 

Medicine Balls were invented for men and are well 
named. They are usually a feasible item of equipment for 
the outdoor gymnasium, provided the balls are looked after 
and not allowed to get astray or be used roughly by big 
boys — a favorite trick when they get the chance. "Some- 
thing to throw" is just what they want ■ here we have also 
a reason why the medicine ball is quite the proper thing 
through which to give grown up men real exercise. 

The medicine ball is useful for the lone man who has 
to exercise without company and is equally good for two or 
three or for a class of 50 or more. There are various sizes, 
forms and weights of the balls, adjustable to all needs of 
any men or boys, and women and girls also. 

Without going too minutely into the early history of the 
medicine ball, as used for beneficial physical exercise, it can 
be stated that it was used in Persia and elsewhere in Oriental 
lands at least 200 years ago. Its present position in Ameri- 
can gymnasiums is unquestionably due to its introduction by 
the originator and adapter of so many means for interesting 
and beneficial hygienic bodily exercises, Robert J. Roberts, 
of Boston, Mass., senior Y. M. C. A. physical director. He 
has written the following account of the origin of the medi- 
cine ball as we know it today. 

By Robert J. Roberts. 
What led me, in 1876, to have made the round leather 
ball, weighing from 4 to 16 pounds, which I called the medi- 
cine ball, and which was made for me by Robert Miller's fa- 
ther, 230 State St., Boston, Mass., was a story that I had 
read about that time of a certain king who was half sick from 
eating too much and neglect of exercise. His physician told 
him that he could be cured if he would eat only certain kinds 
and amounts of food, and throw around a ball that the phy- 
sician would give him to use daily, which was filled with 
some marvelous drugs whose medicinal properties would, 

176 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

when the king had exercised vigorously enough to bring on 
a free visible perspiration, enter his body through his pores, 
and cure him, provided he took a bath in some warm water 
that contained some more wonder-working kind of drugs. 

The physician told the king that if he followed direc- 
tions faithfully for a month every day he would be cured of 
his obesity and indigestion, and the other ailments that want 
of exercise and over-eating had brought on. Of course the 
physician did not tell the king that all he wanted him to do 
was to eat less, exercise more, and bathe oftener. If he had 
done so, the king would, probably, have been angry and re- 
fused to take his treatment. 

During the 32 years the medicine ball has been in use 
in gymnasiums it has helped to cure and keep well thou- 
sands of people who needed only daily sweating exercise of 
the amusing kind that the medicine ball always furnishes, and 
a graded bath after its daily use to keep them well or restore 
them to health. 

It can be used alike by weak and strong, young and old, 
who are in fairly normal condition, from the cradle to the 
grave, because the exercises can be made safe, short, easy 
and pleasing, or moderately heavy and hard, according to the 
needs of the individual or class. The more it is used by the 
individual alone against a wall or with a friend, or in class 
work, or in the medicine ball race, where 30 or 40 men can 
engage in an off-hand competitive event at one time, accord- 
ing to the size of the gymnasium, or out of doors, in pass- 
ing around in a large circle, or with a dozen squads (four 
men each is the ideal number), it has found favor. It will 
find more and more favor as time goes on. It can be used to 
imitate many acts of labor and sport, and is pleasing to both 
man, woman and child. 

A class of from eight to 30 or more can engage in this 
safe, short, easy and quick work. From two to eight or more 
medicine balls may be used, according to the size of the class. 

Have the class catch hold of hands and form a circle — 
or an oblong — touching finger tips. In this manner there 
will be good working room. Hold this distance while pass- 
ing the ball in various simple ways, using most of the move- 
ments of the A. B. C. Series No. 1, given below. Pass the 

i/7 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

ball first around to the right, then to the left. Sometimes 
use basket balls with a small class. Sometimes let a heavy 
ball follow a light one. These variations add interest. Of 
course when two men are using a ball alone, there is less rea- 
son for supervision. The same thing is true when one man 
uses the ball, as he may well do, by bounding it against a 
firm wall, with an opponent who never gets tired. 

A. B. C. MEDICINE BALL SERIES, NO. i. 

Position, feet about 20 inches apart. Do each movement 
four times, except No. 12. 
1. Throw from floor with straight arms. 
2 

3 

4 

5 



7 
8 

9 
10 
11 
12 



Bounce, catch, throw with straight arms. 

Throw from front of thighs. 

Push from front of chest. 

Throw from top of head. 

Throw from back of neck. 

Throw from a high vertical. 

Throw from side of right thigh. 

Throw from side of left thigh. 

Put shot from right shoulder. 

Put shot from left shoulder. 

Do each above exercise once. 



SERIES NO. 4. 
This drill is adapted to a small class of enthusiasts. It 
is of the nature of advanced medicine ball exercise and may 
not suit an average class so well as simpler movements. Two 
or three men can find interest, vigorous exercise and amuse- 
ment in it. Each movement can be repeated until each man 
can do his share, or four times each as with the other drills, 
according to circumstances. An instructor may use a few 
minutes of this drill at the end of a class period, just before 
the bath. 

1. Throw ball over head, catch behind back with both 
hands, drop to floor and roll to mate. 

2. Repeat, catching with right hand only. 

3. Repeat, catching with left hand only. 

4. Repeat, but throw from behind back to mate, instead 
of rolling on floor. 

5. Have mate repeat the four exercises. 

178 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

6. Repeat No. 4, mate catching ball behind his back. 

7. Have mate repeat No. 6. 

8. Throw over head, catch behind back, throw over 
head, catch in front of chest, push to mate. 

9. Have mate repeat No. 8. 

10. Put shot with right hand, mate catching ball with 
right hand held high over right shoulder. 

11. Same with left hand. 

12. Have mate repeat Nos. 10 and 11. 

13. Put shot for distance with right hand, mate catching 
ball and repeating movement. 

(Note. — The complete series of movements were printed 
in " American Gymnasia," of May and June, 1905.) 




<L'^ 



A. B. C. Medicine Ball Series No. 

(See page 178.) 




1s^ — 

An outdoor basketball game showing arrangements of bas- 
kets and supports when walls or other places are not available. 

(See chapter 21.) 



179 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

SAND GARDENS FOR THE LITTLE CHIL- 
DREN. 

A School in Which Children Get Early Lessons in 
Self-Expression — Creation of What Imagination Pic- 
tures — Equipment Simple but Important— Varying 
Types of Courts and Boxes. 

The sand garden is a playground feature of much value 
for little children of from five to ten years. It was one of 
the first departments to be developed to efficiency. A sand 
garden is often a fenced-in part of a larger space so that the 
children for whom it is made may have undisputed posses- 
sion. The essential fundamentals are the sand, some simple 
playthings to be used in the sand, and perhaps a covering 
over the "garden" to protect it from sun and rain in undue* 
quantities. From these essentials the sand garden can be 
elaborated as extensively as conditions permit. 

As playing in the dirt is one of the race-old inheritances 
of normal children, all boys and girls want to do it about as 
soon as they can crawl. Once it was generally supposed that 
the children liked dirt for its own nasty sake. Who can 
estimate the millions of mother-spanks misapplied and the 
gallons of young tears shed because of this misunderstand- 
ing ! No, children do not care especially for street dirt. They 
are just as well satisfied with clean sand. 

What a child at this period is trying to do is to begin 
its life of creation ; to make something is its instinctive desire. 
A sand pile gives all possible opportunity, and the sand pile 
in the playground sand garden gives the opportunity with 
proper material and ideal surroundings. Here he, and of 
course she, can make almost anything fancy can picture, from 
sand pies to castles and mountains. To do this creative work 
with the best results and with the most satisfaction to the 

180 




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AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

young creators, a basis or platform is needed, hence sand 
gardens require a board or cement flat surface on which the 
sand can be worked and mouded. Some movable boards for 
backing, pails or cups to hold sand, shovels or spoons to move 
it, and other tools are needed. 

Elaborate appliances, expensive or complicated, are out 
of place in a sand garden, for the sufficient reason that the 
child wants only the crude, raw, unformed material from 
which to make what his imagination pictures to him. He 
wants very little equipment but wants that little very much. 

For this reason squared sawed-off ends of planks and 
odd pieces of board are usually better than nicer looking 
fancy building blocks. Such blocks as are proper should be 
brick size and shape but can be of odd sizes almost as well. 
If small blocks are provided, the reserve supply should be 
large for they will disappear rapidly unless careful watch is 
kept. A size too large for pockets may prevent this dis- 
appearance in part. 

There are some excellent German building blocks of 
brick material of much value for playground, sand garden 
and kindergarten uses, where there is systematic provision 
for their care and checking. Being of uniform and standard 
measurements, elaborate building operations can be con- 
ducted readily and with educational value. The brick 
blocks are better than wooden ones and ought not to be 
carried away in too large numbers if there is the mentioned 
systematic checking method or an attendant to look closely 
after things of this sort. But it is still true that the average 
child will get just as much pleasure from the odds and ends 
of boards and planks as from the scientific blocks ; the differ- 
ence is in the educative value of the latter. 

A sand garden can have just a pile of sand dumped in a 
corner but there should be a box with raised sides for it. 
The box may be about 15 or 20 feet square and 18 inches to 
2 feet deep, with six inches of sand or more in the bottom. 
Or the box may be oblong. The exact size and shape is 
adjustable to conditions. A good type of box has a shelf six 
inches wide at two ends or down the center on which the 
sand may be moulded and on which the inevitable ''pies" 
may be properly "baked." The shelf, if at the ends, should 

181 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

be a few inches below the top so that the sand will not be 
brushed over the edges and lost. If the shelf is below the 
top of the box sides, or in the center, most of the sand will 
find its way back to its proper place. 

A cover for the sand box is important to keep the 
box from being disturbed at undesirable hours. Another good 
plan is to have a small shelter over the box so that it can 
continue in use during a brief summer shower, or when the 
sun is too hot for the little ones. One form of cover is in the 
shape of a pagoda which can be raised and lowered and so 
used as a shelter from the sun and rain when up, and a cover 
for the box when lowered. 

There is room for a question on the point of covering the 
sand box. Perhaps the cleansing and changing of the sand 
through sun, rain and stealing is desirable ; some experts con- 
tend that it is. 

A distinction may be made between a sand box and a 
sand court or pit. A sand box may be just a wooden boxed-in 
space where sand is kept and inside which the children are 
not allowed to play. There are sanitary and hygienic reasons 
why it is not good for small children to get into the sand 
boxes, as is often done. Diseases may be communicated in 
this manner and unless the sand is removed and fresh sand 
put in very frequently, it may become foul in a short time. 
If the children do not play in the boxes but stay outside, 
these dangers are modified and partly removed. 

A sand court or pit is a different affair. Here we have a 
considerable space with much sand in which the children may 
play at will and in any way they choose. There is so much 
more sand spread out over so much more space and it is 
open to rain washing and the effects of sun and air, that 
sanitary conditions are very much better. In some play- 
grounds the sand gardens are really small beaches, with a 
shaded bench or vine-covered shelter for the mothers to sit 
within while the youngsters play busily and happily in the 
sand and the water just outside. 

The sand box is the only practicable form of this provi- 
sion for small children in most school yards and in crowded 
parts of cities generally, on account of room. Hence pre- 
cautions such as mentioned are made advisable. If the sand 

182 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

boxes are comparatively small (2 or 3 feet wide and 10 or 16 
feet long) with a narrow board running across the center or 
from end to end on which the sand may be moulded and 
played with, the inclination to climb into the sand will be 
minimized. 

The number of boxes depends, of course, on the number 
of children and the size of the space available. From two to 
six children could use a box of the size last noted with com- 
fort and peace. A dozen might do so sometimes. Or such a 
box would take care of twenty by crowding. 

If pails and shovels are provided it pays to buy good 
ones. Tin pails will not last very long with the battering 
they get and cheap shovels break easily. Papier mache pails 
can be had for about $2.00 a dozen and will last indefinitely. 
Ordinary pails and shovels can be bought for from $1.10 to 
$1.25 a dozen for both. Heavy shovels, well made of iron, 
cost more than tin and wood to start with but are cheaper in 
the end. By a proper system they need not be lost. One 
playground that did this lost two shovels and one pail in a 
season. This was accomplished by a checking system. A 
child wanting a pail and shovel deposited his hat which was 
returned when the tools were returned. 

Another desirable thing is to have a supply of small 
stones, pebbles and sticks. These go into the sand construc- 
tion work. A suggestion : Let two or three of the older chil- 
dren who are going to the beach or the woods gather some 
material of this sort, thus making them generally useful 
along the lines mentioned in chapter 16. 



183 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
DANCING IN THE OPEN AIR. 

The Acceptable Types — Some Examples — Virginia 
Reel — Old Zip Coon — Pop Goes the Weasel — Rustic 
Dance — "Queer Old Man" — Jumping Jacks — Peas- 
ants' Dance — American Folk Dances. 

Dancing is usually associated in America with indoor 
work rather than with the playgrounds and outdoors, but there 
is no reason why it should be so. There are real reasons why 
dancing should be a universal outdoor exercise and pleasure. 
Outdoors there is air to breath that is fit to go into the lungs 
and there is the natural setting that some dances need, such 
for instances as many of the folk dances. 

There are several good books devoted to forms of danc- 
ing suitable for physical training requirements, of which titles 
are given in the list at the end of this book. The dances given 
in this chapter are here mainly as suggestions of what can be 
made useful. Some American folk dances are given and re- 
ferred to. This native type of rhythmic exercise should be 
more generally used in its own country instead of being almost 
ignored in favor of "made in Europe" types often of less de- 
sirable nature. 

It is not necessary to tell teachers that the dancing re- 
ferred to here is not the sort generally used socially, such as 
the waltz and two-step, but the better types that have a mean- 
ing to be expressed, and a particular adaptability to play- 
ground and gymnasium purposes. It is of course in order on 
some social occasions to use even the waltz and two-step un- 
der proper conditions. So used out of doors, these over-popu- 
lar and at the same time officially decried forms of dancing 
have some of the objections against them removed. 

The types of dancing that are specially referred to here, 
as most desirable for exercise and recreation in playgrounds 

184 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

and gymnasiums, are those commonly known as folk dances ; 
dances in which there is character and description, such as 
certain of the European country dances and those that have 
historical as well as character value like some of the old 
American dances. 

Virginia Reel. 

The Virginia Reel is a desirable folk dance for children, 
but equally good for young men and women. It has an added 
advantage in that it is in harmony with American spirit. De- 
tailed descriptions of this dance are easily found in print. The 
following is an abridged form for playground use. 

Any number of individuals may participate, but if there 
are a large number it is desirable to make several groups or 
sets of half a dozen couples each rather than placing all in 
one large set. The dancers are formed (in each set) in two 
lines about four feet apart, facing each other, men or boys in 
one line, women or girls in the other. At signal the couple at 
the head of the line step forward, bow, join hands and dance 
down the line to the end, there let go hands, bow and step 
back in line. As the first couple finish, the next couple (at 
the head of the line) begin and proceed in the same manner. 
When each couple has danced as indicated, both lines face in 
the same direction and march down the outside, the men turn- 
ing to the left and the women to the right, and then up the 
center to original positions. Then the figure continues with- 
out pause and may be continued as many times as desired. 

The music for the Virginia Reel must be lively, with plain 
rhythm, such as that for hornpipe or reel. A single violin 
makes excellent music for this dance, bringing into play the 
atmosphere surrounding the country ''fiddler." 

Pop Goes the Weasel. 

A quite well known "contra" dance using the same posi- 
tions as the Virginia Reel ; that is, two lines or rows of danc- 
ers facing each other, boys on one side and girls on the other. 
The number of dancers may be twelve to twenty in a set with 
more sets if there are a large number to participate, as de- 
scribed for Virginia Reel. 

This description is an adaptation for present purposes. 

185 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

The terms "boys and girls'' are employed, but of course 
men and women may use it. 

The music has the same title — "Pop Goes the Weasel." 

Reference to "steps" means "measures" ; a "step" equals 
a "measure" of the music. 

The Start: First couple dance sideways toward the cen- 
ter, eight steps, and return to places. Last couple repeat same. 

First girl and boy dance sideways toward the center, 
dance around facing each other, and return to places. Oppo- 
site couple repeat. (First boy and last girl.) 

First couple down the center, eight steps, dance around 
back to back, and return to places. Last couple repeat. 

Boys turn to left and girls to right, dancing outside lines 
eight steps and back to places. 

First couple and second girl take right hands and swing 
around left, eight steps. 

Same three drop right hands, turn, take left hands and 
swing around right, four steps. Then first couple raise joined 
hands and the second girl runs under to head of line, all the 
dancers meantime singing the words "Pop Goes the Weasel," 
four steps (measures). 

First couple repeat same with second boy, sending him 
up the line to join his partner. 

First couple then repeat the figure in same manner with 
next couple. This process may continue until the first couple 
have "popped" all the dancers in their set; or when the first 
couple has passed down the line to the third couple, the couple 
then at the head may start and proceed in the same manner, 
thus causing two figures to be going on at the same time. 
Care must be taken that confusion does not arise. As fast as 
the couples are duly "popped" they stand a little apart from 
the un-popped dancers, but in original formation, to prevent 
confusion in that respect. The dance may continue as long 
as desired, or until dancers and musicians are weary. 

A Rustic Dance. 

This is a simple dance suitable for a large number of 
girls. From twenty to sixty or even more can participate at 
once providing there is sufficient space. The following de- 
scription is for forty girls participating. They are formed in 

186 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

two lines of twenty each, at opposite sides of the playground 
facing each other, with their backs turned toward two sides 
of the playground and each line facing the other. This is the 
first or formation position. As the music starts, or on signal 
from the instructor, all clasp hands. The two lines, kept 
straight, advance towards each other, dancing or tripping as 
they come. When the lines are within a short distance of 
each other the instructor gives a signal by clapping hands or 
some other method, at which the lines bow forward once, and 
then retreat dancing or tripping backwards to their starting 
position. 

At another signal they again advance, with raised 
arms, the joined hands thus forming a series of apexes. When 
within a close distance the right hand line stoops, release 
hands, and pass under the apexes formed by the raised arms 
of the left line. Again joining hands, the lines continue danc- 
ing towards each other again. When they meet in the center, 
the left line stoops and passes under the raised arms of the 
right line, continuing dancing until the sides of the ground are 
once more reached ; here, pivoting, they again face inwards. 

The two center girls of each line should now remain sta- 
tionary, while the others dance forward until the ends of the 
right line meet those of the left, thus forming a diamond 
shaped figure. Retreating backwards, they next advance for- 
ward until the end girls of each line catch hold of each other's 
hands, and thus form two independent circles. After dancing 
around three times each way, they loose hands at the ends of 
the lines, and retreat backwards towards the sides of the 
ground. From this position the right line advances a short 
distance forward, and the end girls once more join hands and 
create a circle in the center. While the right line is dancing 
a circle outside, the inner circle dances around in the contrary 
direction. 

At a signal the directions are reversed. The inner circle 
must contract a little, and the outer circle extend hands as 
much as possible, while these reverse circles are being danced. 
At a signal the outer circle raises arms, and the inner circle, 
loosing hands, passes backward under the upraised arms. 
Once through, they join hands, and the left line being now in- 
side, reverse circles are once more danced. 

i8 7 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

At a signal the end girls of the right line loose hands, the 
two centre girls remaining stationary, and the others retreat 
backwards until they are in a parallel line with the sides of 
the ground. As soon as possible the left line also performs a 
similar manoeuvre, until the two lines are facing and close to 
each other. 

The right and left lines now for the first time catch hold 
of each other's hands, and raising them above heads, form an 
archway. Underneath this one end of each line, linking arms, 
enters, being immediately followed by the others also link- 
ing arms. As soon as the girls are out of the avenue, the pairs 
must immediately raise arms in order to prolong the move- 
ment. 

Upon the conclusion of this figure, the lines, retaining the 
arms linked, trip off. 

In learning the movements the figures should first be 
walked, and the changes made by an agreed upon signal from 
the teacher. When the figures are thoroughly acquired and 
the signals understood, they should be gone through dancing 
or tripping the whole of the time. Nursery rhymes can also 
be very appropriately sung by the children as a chorus during 
the dance. — (Adapted from Alexander.) 

Dance of the Jumping Jacks. 

(As arranged by O. L. Hebbert for men. The music es- 
pecially adapted to this dance is the "Jumping Jacks' Jubi- 
lee." This dance is adapted to a class that has had prelimi- 
nary practice in simpler forms of dancing.) 

Starting from position of "attention" with hands at 
sides. 

First Step (forward). 

i — Slide right foot obliquely forward, raise left foot back- 
ward, right arm raised obliquely forward, left arm obliquely 
down backward. 

2 — Hop on right foot, arms as in i. 

3. — Slide left foot obliquely forward, left arm raised ob- 
liquely forward, right arm obliquely down backward. 

4 — Hop on left foot. 

5 — Same as 1. 

6, 7, 8 — Hop three times on right foot, arms as in 1. 

188 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

9 — Step back on left foot, right leg raised across left, 
right arm half flexed in front of body, left arm half flexed 
over head. 

10 — Hop on left foot. 

ii — Step backward on right foot, raising left leg across 
right leg, reverse arm position. 
12 — Hop on right foot. 

13 — Hop backward on left foot, right leg raised in front 
of left leg, hands on hips. 

14 — Hop backward on right foot, left leg raised in front of 
right, hands on hips. 

15 — Hop backward on left foot, right leg raised in front 
of left, hands on hips. 

16 — Hop backward on right foot, left leg raised in front of 
right, hands on hips. 

17 to 32 — Repeat 1 to 16, starting with left foot. 
33 to 64 — Repeat 1 to 32. 

Second Step. 
1 — Slide right foot to right side and then across in front 
of left foot, bend left knee and body sideward, arms sideward ; 
and step left foot sideward to left. 

2 — Close right foot to left foot and slide left foot side- 
ward to left. 

3 to 8 — Repeat 1 and 2. 

9 — Slide right foot obliquely forward to right, raise left 
leg backward, right arm forward, left arm downward. 
10 — Hop on right foot. 

11- — Step backward on left foot, raise right leg in front 
of left leg, left arm circled overhead, right arm across body. 
12 — Hop on left foot. 

13 to 16 — Turn to right, hopping on right foot, right arm 
upward, left arm across body, look over left shoulder. Repeat. 

Third Step (Sideward). 
1 — Slide right foot to right side (arms sideward left) and 
close right foot to left foot. 

2 — Hop on left foot, raising right foot well up. 
3, 4 — Repeat 1 and 2. 

5 to 8 — Turn to right, hopping on right foot, right arm 
encircled over head, left arm across waist, eyes looking over 
left shoulder. 

189 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

9 to 16 — Repeat 5 to 8, turning to left. 
17 to 32 — Repeat 1 to 16. 

Fourth Step (The Cobbler). 
1 — Jump to both heels, toes wide apart, arms obliquely 
sideward upward. 

2 — Jump to toes, heels together, and squat with arms 
crossed in front of knees. 

3 to 16 — Repeat 1 and 2. 

17 to 32 — "Twist and kick" ; hands on hips (i. e., half 
turn trunk to right and kick high to right with right foot; 
same on left). 

Fifth Step (The Rock). 
Hands clasped in front of hips. 

1 — Swing left foot in front of right foot, raising right 
heel so that right instep touches floor. 

2 — Spring to left, left instep touching floor. 
3 to 16 — Repeat 1 and 2. 
17 to 28— "The Twist." 

28 to 32 — Turn to left, hopping on left foot, left arm en- 
circled overhead, right arm across waist, eyes looking over 
right shoulder. 

Sixth Step (The Mandarin). 
1 — Hop on left foot, bending left knee, and placing right 
foot obliquely forward to right on heel. Right arm obliquely 
sideward up, left hand down. 

2 — Reverse positions of hands and feet. 
3 to 8 — Repeat 1 and 2. 

9 — Slide right foot obliquely forward, right arm ob- 
liquely forward up, left arm down. 

10, 11, 12 — Three hops on right foot. 

13 to 16 — Turn to left, hopping on left foot, left arm up, 
right arm across waist ; look over right shoulder. 
Seventh Step (Cartwheel). 
Hands on hips. 

1 — Weight on left foot, raise right foot sideward to right. 
2 — Twist, right leg. (Body 1-4 turn right, turning on 
ball of left foot, with circumduction of right foot in air.) 

3 — Weight on right leg, raise left leg sideward to left. 

4 — Twist left leg. (See 2.) 

5 to 8 — Cartwheel to left (in four counts). 

190 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

9 to 16 — Repeat on opposite side. 
17 to 32 — Repeat 1 to 16. 

Note. — In place of "cartwheel" the "throw across" may 
be used, in counts 5 to 8, as follows : 

5 — Step on left foot. (Hands on hips.) 
6 — Full turn of body to left with hop on right foot. 
(Hands encircled over head.) 

7 — Step to left. (Right hand on hip, left over head.) 
8 — Hop on left foot, raising right foot. (Hands as in 7.) 

Eighth Step (Handspring). 
1 to 8 — Same as 1 to 8 in first step. 

9 to 10 — Step with left foot to left, turning right instep 
to floor, both knees bent. 

11 to 12 — Reverse of 9 and 10. (Opposite side.) 
13 — Weight on left foot, right instep to floor. 
14 — Weight on right foot, left instep to floor. 
15 — Same as 13. 
16 — Same as 14. 

17 to 24 — Same as 1 to 8, starting with left foot. 
24 to 28 — Walk backward. 

29 to 32 — Walk forward and handspring forward. 
Ninth Step (Exit). 
Two step around floor and exit. 

Peasants' Dance. 

This is an English rural country dance dating from 1671. 
The following description is reproduced from the book "May- 
Pole Possibilities," by Jennette E. C. Lincoln, in which are a 
number of other dances of similar character. (See list at end 
of book.) 

The description is written as used with a May-pole and 
ribbons, but it may be used without such equipment. 

The Peasants' Dance is of simple character and suitable 
for young women. The steps taken are mainly in circles with 
the hands joined, though some of the figures may terminate 
with a reel. The following description is intended for fifty-six 
young women who may be dressed in ordinary or gymnasium 
costume. For exhibition purposes a simple white dress is ap- 
propriate. 

An elaborate costume is unnecessary for out-of-door ef- 

191 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

feet, since this latter is readily obtained by the addition of a 
long-pointed, laced bodice of any black material. 

This figure consists of five groups of dancers arranged as 
follows : 

Eight each, in quadrilles, form on the four corners of the 
green. 

Twenty-four in the central figure about the pole. 

The twenty-four form about the pole, sixteen as in the 
the four sides and one at each corner. All hold streamers or 
ribbons, if used. 

All courtesy to partners and to corners. The sides and 
corners courtesy to the audience, right and left. Head couples 
cross right, then side couples cross right. Head couples re- 
turn to places, left. Side couples return to places, left (always 
careful to observe the changes in the same line). Repeat. 
Heads and sides cross and re-cross until the streamers are 
plaited sufficiently on the pole. Those holding the streamers 
on outside corners and sides may add to the picture by hold- 
ing the streamers in a canopy over the dancers, or they may 
make a revolution about them between every alternate cross- 
ing of sides and heads. 

To unplait the streamers, the last couples who cross, 
must cross back again, and all be sure to travel in the same 
path at the same side as when weaving the pattern in order 
to prevent confusion. 

When the streamers are all free, repeat courtesies to part- 
ners, corners, and to audience. All take hands and joined by 
the four corner groups, with fancy steps or running leave the 
scene. At the same time the eight on the four corners dance a 
quadrille as follows :- 

i. — Courtesy to partners, 4 counts. 

2. — Courtesy to opposites, 4 counts. 

3. — Form a circle and side-step to right, once around, and 
back again to places. 

4. — Grand right and left. 

5. — Promenade all. 

6. — Head couple form an archway, and all pass under; 
"Thread the Needle." 

7. — Ladies' chain. 

192 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 



8. — Back to places. 

9. — All join hands, crossing in front, and the four corner 
eights join hands, leave corners, circle about the center fig- 
ure at the pole and, in conclusion, run gracefully from the 
scene. 

If preferred, Sir Roger de Coverly (Old Virginia Reel) may 
be danced on the corners. Positions as in Diagram II B. 

The Queer Old Man. 
Translated from the Swedish by Jakob Bolin and repro- 
duced by special permission from the collection of "Swedish 
Song Plays" (for children). 

I went into a strange foreign land, 
And there I met a queer old man. 
And he said to me: "Where goest thee?" 
"And where, young friend, is thy country?" 
"I come directly down from Courtesyland, 
And if you courtesy, join our band ! 
Children who are gay come from Courtesyland." 




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-N K K n e e — e — e — ^ 1 d * — n — fc — & -^ e e — 2 — * 

-P P — -P 1 Pv fc — £ — Ps # # • — — — •- -h Ps Ps — 3-#- 

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The children join hands and slide step to the left, while 
singing the first four lines. Then they drop each others' 
honds, and stand still while singing the rest of the stanza. As 
the descriptive word (appearing three times) is being sung, 
it is acted out, as for instance : 

1. Courtesyland: girls hold out skirts and bow, boys 
bow. 

2. Clappingland : clap the hands three times at the word 



193 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

"Clappingland," occurring twice, and once at the word "clap." 

3. Jumpingland. 

4. Noddingland. 

5. Stretchingland. 

6. Turningland. 

Any number and variety of gestures to be added at the 
discretion of the leader. 

Section Two. 

FOLK DANCES: AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN 

By A. J. Sheafe, 

The current application of character and folk dances to 
playground and gymnasium uses, while it is certainly a step 
forward in physical education, impresses one with the real- 
ization that the steps and movements are as clearly out of 
sympathy with American instincts as the sentiment of such 
dances is out of sympathy with American ideas. 

The Scandinavian folk dance, like all others of its class, 
takes its origin from the life of the common people, and its 
mission is to portray in rhythmic form the acts and situations 
of the characters or the industrial operations of the nation. 
It is here that they fail to interest us because of the fact that 
we are unfamiliar with the national life or industry. 

The European folk dance coming from such a source 
displays only that degree of refined action which its original, 
the peasantry, has attained ; and as conditions of life under 
European institutions, either social, political or industrial, 
are so widely different from life in America, it would be im- 
possible for us to understand the pantomime more than super- 
ficially. Let us take, for instance, the "Varva Vadmal," or 
"Weavers Dance" of Sweden, whose figures are illustrative 
of the weaving of cloth. We of the Twentieth Century un- 
derstand very little of the significance of those movements 
which show the pattern of the weave, for we are accustomed 
to think of cloth as the finished product of the machine and 
to take it as a unit in its completed state. We have no idea 
of what a weaver's knot may be and have never troubled 
ourselves as to whether the shuttle may fly forward and back, 
to right or left, or up and down. 

194 




formation in "The Queer Old Man" Dance. 
(See chapter 24.) 




Grown-ups in a children's playground or athletic held are usaaliy 
serviceable as a background. In this illustration a contest in shot putting 
is going on. The clear space in the center should be wider for this event; 
the on-lookers should not be allowed to ciowd so close to the course of the 
shot; accidents are liable to happen. 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Again, the "Skomagerstykket," or "Shoemaker's Dance," 
of Denmark exemplifies the operations of shoemaking, and at 
that the making of shoes after the manner of the Danish cob- 
bler of many years ago. It is largely Greek to us, and fur- 
thermore we are, in reality, very little interested in the sub- 
ject portrayed. 

It is much the same in the case of the character dances 
such as the "Oxdansen." It has a story, indeed, but it re- 
lates it in a foreign tongue, and we are again confronted by 
the impossibility of understanding the representation of that 
which has never been brought to our attention. 

One other point must be considered: the European folk 
dance is crude and gross. It represents rather the lack of 
national refinement than the possession of national grace. It 
is the representation of the life of the illiterate masses and 
contains only the expression of an ideal which is foreign to 
our life, our institutions and our education. The European 
folk dance is seldom or never the pastime of the better classes ; 
and is not, therefore, strictly speaking, acceptable in an un- 
expurgated form. 

It is one of the most deplorable fallacies of the American 
mind that the stamp "made in Europe," is a guarantee either 
of the quality or desirability of an article and this is espe- 
cially true in this instance, when we compare the graces and 
almost elegancies of our contra dances with the crudities and 
frequent indelicacies of the folk dances of Europe. Our dance 
is the product of refinement, and came to us from the better 
classes of our population at a time when elegance was still 
among us, and the "grand air" had not yet entirely disap- 
peared. 

The Contra Dance, or as it was sometimes known, the 
Minuet or Cotillon, was dictated always by the aristocracy 
and imitated by the rest. It is the product of the drawing 
room, not of the stable. It has to do with ideals rather than 
ideas, and while its story may not be as practical from an 
educational standpoint, it deals with a subject that will never 
die rather than the expression of the life and acts of a civil- 
ization that has passed. It is the work of the artist rather 
than the artisan. It tells the story of the eternal aspiration 
of freedom toward beauty. It has to do with progress rather 

195 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

than history. It exerts an influence of culture so marked as 
to attract the cultured, and were we to follow the process of 
the changes we should find in the figures of our old contra 
dance pleasantry without vulgarity and companionship with- 
out familiarity, in marked contrast to the attributes of the 
figures of the foreign folk dance. 

It has been the salvation of American institutions that 
the American mind has been dominated by the ideals of those 
who have appreciated the opportunities of education and free- 
dom in thought and action. Under such conditions the ten- 
dency must be forever upward. Why, then, should we revert 
to the representation of the unlovely which must be the re- 
sult of the lack of those benefits which we enjoy? Why not 
express the free growth of our ideals rather than the stunted 
ideals of the masses of a less enlightened age? 

Again, the exercise which may be obtained from the 
American contra dance is as valuable as anything which the 
foreign folk dance provides. It contains all that the foreign 
folk dance contains in an acceptable form, and presents to 
us a more lovely succession of figures and tableaux than is 
within the mentality of those persons whose lives have been 
so limited by the political institutions of their environment 
that they stand mentally and aesthetically nearly where their 
ancestors have stood for four hundred years. 

Like our New England ancestry, the contra dance of 
America was of English origin, but it is erroneous to state 
that it takes its name from the fact that the early English 
dances of the column and line order were danced in the 
country by the peasantry, and therefore, country or rural 
dances. The euphonious coincidence of the English word 
"country" and the French word "contra" seems to be respon- 
sible for all the confusion as to name. Undoubtedly these 
dances were originally danced in the country as well as in 
the towns, and they may have been known as "country 
dances," but history does not record such a fact. It does tell 
us, however, that the French people who visited England ad- 
mired the column and line dances, and introduced them into 
their own country as "contra" (opposite) dances, selecting 
this name because of the division of the couples in opposite 
lines. But the simple formation in parallel lines was not suf- 

196 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

ficient to satisfy the French ideals, and it was not long before 
the French dancing masters supplied ends as well as sides, 
so that they might dance in a square, and this formation be- 
came known as the "quadrille." It was not, however, until 
about 1830 that the quadrille found its way into English and 
American ball rooms ; and even then it was never regarded 
as a contra. The American contra dance differed somewhat 
from the English in many respects. In most cases the sets 
were limited to only such a number as would avoid the possi- 
ble monotony of too frequent repetition of the figure. 

The dances were executed either with the Scotch steps 
or the ordinary walking steps, and it was not unusual to find 
the old-time dancers executing the most artistic and difficult 
embellishments, the "pigeon wing" being a particular favorite. 
Nor were these fancy steps rare, but rather the rule, for it was 
the special pride of every young man in the early part of the 
nineteenth century to "cut a pigeon wing" and to execute 
properly many of the "entre chats, contretemps and brises." 

In the northern part of the country all of these things 
were executed upon the ice in skating. The dances were en- 
tered into in true sporting spirit and the figures were so ar- 
ranged as to satisfy the play instinct of the dancer without 
destroying their beauty or overstepping the bounds of propri- 
ety. As their names would indicate, the contra dances were 
composed to fit the occasion and the figure usually repre- 
sented a definite action. 

Is there not as much to be admired in our homely old 
"Money Musk" as in the "Daldans"? And wherein does the 
"Ostgotapolska" excel "Old Zip Coon"? Certainly not in 
point of enjoyment, and still less as a spectacle ; and the 
American dance is quite as acceptable for physical training 
purposes as any of these. 

Let us not forget, however, that no dance of whatever 
nationality ever became a national institution because of its 
adaptability to gymnastic uses. No choregrapher of any 
standing has ever conceded that the end and aim of the art 
which he practises, or even the science which underlies it, is 
the building of muscles. To the dancer, at least, an excess 
of muscle is as serious a handicap as an excess of fat. It is 
the aim of dance instruction to refine muscular action, 

197 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

rather than to increase muscular strength, and any use to 
which dancing may be put as a means of strenuous develop- 
ment can only be successful in so far as the limited possibili- 
ties of the dance in such direction extend. 

Perhaps there is no better representative of the American 
contra dance than "Old Zip Coon" ; the music and descrip- 
tion of which follow. (See next page for music.) 

Old Zip Coon. — Like most contra dances, "Old Zip 
Coon" is executed in two opposite lines with the ladies on one 
side and the gentlemen on the other, facing each other. The 
set is usually composed of six couples, and thus the repetition 
is not so great as to become monotonous before all the dan- 
cers have gone through the figure. In this dance there is 
rather more vim than in many of the others, as two couples 
are always dancing, while in many of the others only one 
couple execute the figure at a time.. 

The figure starts with the first two couples, of whom the 
head couple turn toward the head of the set and go separately 
down the outside, returning up the center hand in hand while 
the second couple join hands and go down the center, sepa- 
rating at the foot and returning to place up the outside 
8 measures 

These couples then repeat the figure with the first cou- 
ple going down the center and up the outside, and the second 
down the outside and up the center 8 measures 

First and second couples (together) down the center and 
back and the first couple "cast off" at the head, i. e., change 
sets, lady going in front of the gentleman 8 measures 

First four "right and left" 8 measures 

Right and left is executed as follows : forward and give 
right hand to opposite person and pass by; give left hand to 
partner and walk around to face center 4 measures 

Repeat, giving right hand to opposite and pass back ; give 
left hand to partner and go around to place 4 measures 

This may be executed either with walking steps or the 
skipping step. The music should be brisk and lively. 



198 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 



Some American Folk Dances. 



Virginia Reel. 
Lady of the Lake. 
Maid in the Pump Room. 
Pop Goes the Weasel. 
Chase the Squirrel. 
Money Musk. 
Dan Tucker. 
Arkansas Traveler. 
Constitution Hornpipe. 
Devil's Dream. 
Drunken Sailor. 



Jakie's Hornpipe. 

Girl I Left Behind Me. 

Hey Daddy, Walk Around. 

Haste to the Wedding. 

Portland Fancy. 

Jordan Am a Hard Road. 

Hull's Victory. 

Old Zip Coon. 

Smash the Windows. 

Speed the Plow. 

Winds that Shakes the Barley. 



OLD ZIP COON. 




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A Rustic Dance. 

(See page 186.) 



199 



CHAPTER XXV. 

SWIMMING, WADING AND WATER SPORTS. 

Shallow Water for Wading, Deeper Water for Swim- 
ming are Desirable — Tub Racing — A Note Not for 
Parents — Sanitary Precautions. 

Playgrounds ought to include water deep enough for 
swimming and other water not deep enough for swimming. 
Wading pools, with water one to two feet deep, are required 
as well as water five or six feet deep ; there are users for both. 
This paragraph is written with artificial conditions in mind. 
If the playground is so located that there is a lake or river 
or pond that only needs to be made accessible, the problem 
is a simple one: 

Swimming is treated in special books on the subject. (See 
list on page 268.) Teaching swimming should be a part of 
all physical training work, wherever and under whatever 
name conducted. Every boy and girl ought to know how to 
swim and care for himself and herself, and for others, in the 
water as well as how to walk and bathe. If this was so there 
would be very few grown up people drowned through igno- 
rance of how to swim. 

A wading pool in daily use ought to be made with means 
for constant flow of water in and out. In addition, the pool 
should be entirely emptied twice a week ; once a week may 
answer if oftener is inadvisable for local reasons ; unless there 
are natural means for keeping the water clean. A natural 
pool will usually have natural means for intake and outflow, 
so that the bother of looking after the sanitary condition of 
the water need cause very little worry. 

Wading and using shallow water by small children is a 
matter that apparently requires little supervision beyond that 
naturally given to playground activities in general. But it 
is possible of use systematically. There are things to do in 
the water as well as on dry land. Not all the physical exer- 
cise is to be had from ordinary, games or with apparatus. 

200 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

There are games to be played in the water. A game of tag 
played in a wading pool has its own interest and fun, provided 
of course that the water is not too crowded and the players 
are appropriately dressed. 

In the way of formal, organized, water sports there are 
Water Polo, Water Basket Ball (for which rules are given 
on next page) and others. 

There are of course the forms of swimming for experts 
and those who aspire to be experts, such as fancy swimming, 
diving, somersaults, and so on. These require water that is 
not shallow but has proper depth. 

In the wading pool, or other shallow water that is suita- 
ble, there are distinctive interests for the younger children. 
Some of these have been mentioned. Leap Frog can be played 
there and the splash when the frog leaps over and lands ker- 
plunk in the water is interesting to both onlookers and chil- 
dren, again supposing the children are properly dressed for 
the wetting. A short run starting on land, going through the 
wading pool to the land on the other side is interesting. If 
the players are in water costume, they can roll in the water, 
just as gymnasts roll on mats indoors or on the grass out of 
doors ; and the children in the water will get a full measure 
of fun out of it. If the pool has sloping edges, not high gran- 
ite or cement sides, and is at the botom of a slope, the chil- 
dren in bathing suits can start at the top of the slope and roll 
down plump into the water, thus doing two things most 
youngsters enjoy : rolling on the grass and playing in water. 

Tub Racing is a source of universal delight to everybody 
concerned. The children in the tubs will never get enough 
of it ; the older people who are spectators will seldom show 
signs of weariness in watching the events, and especially in 
waiting for the expected to happen. It usually does happen 
sooner or later. 

Children will teach one another to swim and often do it 
better than a more scientific instructor. As in the old coun- 
try swimming-hole, where grown-ups seldom intruded (or 
if they did it was without receiving warm welcome) the 
youngsters learned how to swim with nobody's help. The 
children of today will do likewise if they have the opportunity. 
The small children can swim in the wading pools, where the 

201 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

water may not be deep enough to cause parental heart fail- 
ure. Older ones can use the swimming pools and ponds. 

It has been demonstrated in the Chicago swimming pools 
that the fittest stroke will survive ; the children will use the 
form that best serves their purpose when allowed to do so. 
A stroke that may be good for one may not be the best for 
another. 

A Note that parents need not read. — In the center of 
many playground pools and wading pools is a fountain or 
pipe that plays water constantly to keep the pool filled and to 
keep the water more pure. This is the official purpose of such 
fountains or pipes. From the point of view of the children the 
purpose is to provide a simple way to squirt water on their 
playmates. If Johnny can catch Walter when he isn't looking 
and can send a half-inch stream of water down his back, the 
playground is well worth while for that day. Some play- 
grounds have rules against such things, but what are rules 
for except to be broken? A fellow's got to have some fun, 
somehow ! The organized play and supervised exercise 
doesn't fill quite all the needs of a live boy-animal ! 

Rules for Water Basket Ball. 

These rules for water basket ball are founded on those 
prepared by Dr. A. E. Garland, Boston Y. M. C. A., supple- 
mented by those employed in the game in vogue in Chicago. 

The ball shall be an ordinary uncovered round ball. 

The goals shall consist of two 18-inch rings suspended on 
12-foot poles, a foot being allowed for sinking in the sand and 
a foot above the ring. The ring shall be five feet above the 
surface of the water. 

The goal shall be placed in water 42 to 48 inches deep. 

The playing space shall be proportionately 5 by 3 feet 
for each of the players, of which there shall be six on a side, 
two forwards, centre, half back and two full backs. 

The officials shall be an umpire, a time keeper and a score 
keeper. 

The game shall consist of two halves of 15 minutes each, 
wth a rest of 10 minutes between. The teams shall change 
baskets after the first half. 

The umpire shall have entire control of the game. He 

202 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

shall call all fouls and determine when the ball is out of 
bounds. 

A goal made from the water shall count two points. A 
free throw from the io-foot mark will constitute the penalty 
for a foul. A goal made in this way will count one point. 

No goal shall be thrown from out of bounds. 

When the ball is declared out of bounds by the umpire, 
the first man touching the ball shall throw it in from right 
angles where it crosses the line. 

A foul shall be called by the umpire for holding, tackling, 
striking or unnecessary roughness. 

The ball may be carried or thrown in any direction. 

The ball is held when two or more players get their hands 
on the ball, and shall be thrown up on the spot by the umpire. 

The two opponents first touching the ball shall jump for 
the same. 

The ball shall be started by the umpire throwing it up in 
the centre and shall be touched first by the centre men. 

Two rough fouls shall disqualify the player. 

A player may be disqualified by the umpire for one rough 
foul or for ungentlemanly conduct. 

After each score, the teams line up as at first. 




(See chapter 26, next page.) 



20' 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

PYRAMIDS AND TUMBLING. 

Useful Types of Work for Outdoors and Indoors — 
Rolls — Dives — Cartwheel — Hand Springs. 

Boys and men will like to make pyramids now and then 
if shown how, and the work is not too hard. Advanced men 
who are athletes or gymnasts will also approve this form of 
work, which is as good outdoors as indoors ; or better than in- 
doors. The illustrations (page 206) are simple in nature, and 
are merely suggestions. They are from a pamphlet, "Pyra- 
mids and Postures," by A. B. Wegener (see list on page 268), 
which gives additional information covering the use of these 
formations and 40 others of similar nature. Some of them can 
be used for girls quite as well as for boys. 

Tumbling. — One of the most natural of physical activities 
for children is tumbling. In its technical sense, this mode of 
physical training is of much value and always pleasurable to 
those who take part in it. To be sure, it is somewhat undig- 
nified for grown-up men, although a little of it will do most 
men good even if the bald spot has begun to show. In the 
playground, tumbling may be done on the soft grass or a 
definite place may be made with a dug out space in the ground 
filled with several inches of tanbark. 

A beginning point for tumbling is the "forward roll," 
which is simply rolling forward with the body doubled up. 
On the soft grass or tanbark this is easily done ; on a dirt 
floor it is questionable policy to do much tumbling of any 
sort, unless really expert. 

The Forward Roll is done in this way: Place hands on 
ground a foot in front of toes. Bend head forward and then 
bend the body forward at hips ; bend knees and sink until 
shoulders are close to the ground. With a little push with 

204 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

toes, roll over, keeping knees close to chest. Just as the toes 
are off the ground in the roll forward, push the arms for- 
ward straight in front of chest, thus aiding in coming to 
standing position. 

The Backward Roll is done by dropping from standing 
position to a squat, toes raised from ground, and falling back- 
ward quickly. As soon as the body falls backward, the hands 
are pushed in the same direction and placed on the ground. 
Push strongly with the hands to help in the roll and to raise 
the body to make room for the head, which is during this 
time bent forward. Keep the knees close to the chest until 
the roll is completed ; then rise to standing position as at the 
start. 

Combine the forward and backward rolls, doing the for- 
ward first and then, instead of coming to standing position, 
roll backward and then stand. 

After having learned to roll forward and backward, a 
more difficult "stunt" is to dive forward and then roll. The 
Dive is done in the same manner as diving into the water. 
Start with a little jump from both feet, hands together over 
the head ; let hands strike the ground first, with the feet in 
the air. Then roll forward as before. The length of the dive 
can be from a few inches to as many feet as the expert can 
cover. 

After knowing how to dive well from standing position, 
try it with a preliminary short run. 

The High Dive can be done in similar manner. Begin by 
diving over a boy kneeling on hands and knees. Increase the 
height of the obstacle to be dived over by having the boy 
stretch up as high as possible. Then try a larger boy. Then 
a man, if there is one handy. (This is a good way to get a 
spectator busy for a few minutes and so give him some ex- 
ercise without his knowing anything about it.) Next, have 
two boys stand facing each other, holding hands, the divers 
going over the hands. If there is apparatus so a jumping 
standard can be used, the bar can be placed at any desired 
height. 

A Back Hand Spring is something for the boys to work 
for, during their learning stage. This is a feat of considerable 
difficulty and should not be tried unless some one is at hand 

205 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

who understands it to give help, and to prevent a likely 
fall and possible injury. In a gymnasium it is usually learned 
with the aid of a special strap fastened about the waist, for 
a fall and good many more falls are almost certain to a be- 
ginner. If a strap is not available, the same aid can be given 
by two large boys or men standing one on either side of the 
performer, ready to lend aid at the proper instant. 

The Back Hand Spring, also known as the Flip, consists 
of a movement of the body upward and turning over back- 
ward. The feet leave the ground at the start, describe a cir- 
cle, with the head down towards the ground, and strike the 
ground at the finish. 

The Double Roll is not specially difficult but requires a 
"knack" of doing the right thing at the right instant. Two 
boys are necessary. A lies on the ground, on his back, legs 
raised and straight. B stands with feet spread over the head 
of A. A grasps B's ankles ; B grasps A's ankles. B dives 
forward, carying A's feet to the ground, with his knees bent, 
B continues the dive, and as he rolls forward, A rises and 
follows in the same manner, each holding firmly the ankles 
of the other, all the time. This combined movement is con- 
tinued as long as desired, or as long as breath lasts, for it is 
a real endurance test. (See drawings, page 203.) 




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207 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

SCHOOL GARDENS. 

A Connecting Link Between Schools and Play- 
grounds — Sort of Systematic Work Feasible — A 
Program. 

Gardening is a feature of many playgrounds and an ele- 
ment of real value to city children, as well as one in which 
most of them take a decided interest, once started in the right 
path. That real results of tangible, eatable nature follow the 
work in these gardens is shown by the figures from one play- 
ground in Philadelphia; where in a season of five months 
the following crop was harvested : 5,200 radishes, 3,200 beets, 
52 pecks beans, 25 baskets tomatoes, 12,000 heads lettuce, 150 
bunches of flowers. The flowers were sent in considerable 
quantities to a local hospital. 

This phase of playground activities permits a wide interest 
in the movement, for it. touches the civic betterment efforts 
already referred to in Chapter I. It also supplies one more 
link to tie playgrounds to general education. School yard 
gardens are a feature of many school systems. Combining 
them with playgrounds seems wise from all points of view. 

Some facts are appended about the Philadelphia school 
gardens, conducted by the department of physical education 
as one phase of its summer recreation work ; the other phase 
is the playgrounds. 

"Each class receives lessons in nature study or elemen- 
tary biology that she can readily give these nature study 
talks. This botanical knowledge need not be very scientific. 
The teacher should also know stories and poems of which 
plant or insect life is the theme. 

"The school garden season is from April 7th to October 
7th. The salary for the season, April 7th to October 7th, is 
as follows : Principals $400, assistants $225, gardeners $300. 
As a rule there is a principal and an assistant in each garden, 
while one gardener is assigned to every two gardens. 

208 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

GENERAL PROGRAM.— Each garden, averaging one 
acre, contains from 150 to 200 individual plots, 16 class plots, 
16 sample plots and borders running along the four sides and 
through the middle. 

On account of the large number of children holding in- 
dividual plots, they are divided into four classes, two classes 
coming each day. "First and Second Class" does not, there- 
fore, signify any difference in the grade of work. 

During the school months, April, May, June and Septem- 
ber (except Saturdays), the daily program is as follows: — 

9.00 to 12.00, 2.00 to 3.30. — Kindergarten and primary 
classes from nearby schools visit the garden, the visits last- 
ing from one-half to an hour. Ten to twenty minutes are de- 
voted to nature study, and from twenty to forty minutes to 
practical garden work on class plots. 

3.30 to 4.30. — Work on individual garden plots by the 
children of class I. 

4.30 to 5.30. — Work on individual plots by the children 
of class II. 

First class : 8.00 to 8.20 — Nature study lesson ; 8.20 to 
9.30 — Individual plot work ; 9.30 to 10.00 — Work on borders 
and sample plots. 

Second class : 10.00 to 10.20 — Nature study lesson ; 10.20 
to 11.30 — Individual plot work; 11.30 to 12.00 — Work on bor- 
ders and sample plots ; 12.00 to 12.30 — Inspection and clerical 
work. 

The 1907 Philadelphia Board of Education conducted 10 
school gardens which were open for 145 days, from April to 
October, employing one supervisor, 9 principals, 10 assist- 
ants and 6 gardeners for the six months There was a total 
attendance in the gardens of 90,919 children. The total cost 
for the season, including salaries and material, was $11,035. 
The cost per child for the season was $17.60. The cost per 
child per day of 5 1-4 hours was 12 1-7 cents. There were 
during the season 1,486 individual plot holders. Of the 1,292 
who began in April, 784 or over 60 per cent., kept their plots 
the full six months. The season's averages showed also that 
60 per cent, kept their plots five months, 65 per cent, four 
months, 74 per cent, three months, and 83 per cent, two 
months. 

209 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

One of the pioneer playgrounds with systematic, super- 
vised work for children in crowded city sections was the Co- 
lumbus Avenue Playground, Boston, conducted by the Mas- 
sachusetts Civic League, of which Joseph Lee was and is 
secretary. In a report of garden work there, some practical 
details of administration are presented, based on four years' 
experience. The following extracts are pertinent: 

Gardens have been conducted with the co-operation of 
teachers in nearly all public schools. "The teachers selected 
the children, choosing them for different reasons, for schol- 
arship, for good conduct, or because the children physically 
needed the outdoor life. A list of vegetables and flowers were 
sent to each teacher and each child was allowed to choose 
one or two vegetables or one or two flowers, and one kind of 
vine for a fence around her garden." The choice was written 
on slips of paper by the child with her name and address and 
sent to the garden superintendent. "The gardens were then 
assigned ; vegetables of a kind being placed together and 
flowers aranged so that their colors might harmonize. The 
teachers interested themselves in the children's choice, tried 
to describe what each flower and vegetable looked like, if new 
to the child, encouraged them to write about their gardens 
and talk about their work." 

The gardens were all four feet wide, the length varying 
according to location. The planting was done by the children 
in the beginning, principally under the direction of an expe- 
rienced gardener and partly under the direction of the garden 
superintendent. Each morning notes were sent asking for 
certain children to go to their gardens at 9.00, 10.00 and 11.00 
o'clock, and so on until 6.00 o'clock. If a certain garden 
needed a great deal of work which required no supervision, 
the child was sent for alone and given time to do the work. 
At other times two or three were sent for and again fifteen or 
more worked at the same time. 



210 



PART FIVE 
The Chicago Method in Action. 



Playgrounds are greater preventatives of delin- 
quency than courts. — Ben B. Lindsay. 

Play furnishes a distraction from the common- 
place world. Especially is this the case with chil- 
dren, who more readily and completely lose them- 
selves in present enjoyment. (Games of chance pre- 
eminently have this power over adults.) "When a 
child strikes the combination required," says Bald- 
win, "he is never tired working it." — Gross. 

Girls need health as much — nay, more than boys. 
They can only obtain it as boys do, by running, 
tumbling — by all sorts of innocent vagrancy. At 
least once a day girls should have their halters re- 
moved, the bars let down, and be turned loose like 
young colts. — F. H. Hamilton. 

The playground is not merely for the physical 
good of the child, not simply a clearing house for 
the street, but a vital educational factor. — Stoyan 
Tsanoff. 

211 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
THE SOUTH PARK SYSTEM IN CHICAGO. 

This series of ten municipal recreation centers, play- 
grounds and gymnasiums is given somewhat detailed atten- 
tion because it is at present the model system in America. 
Created under very favorable conditions, provided with ample 
financial resources, ably managed by a staff of men and 
women fully competent and in sympathy with and alive to 
the possibilities of making what had been an ideal become the 
practical, the South Park System stands perhaps at the head 
of any similar institution or group of institutions in the world. 

It can be fairly said that perfection has not been reached, 
either in construction, equipment or management, but the 
ideal has been so nearly approached that the results com- 
mand the serious attention of philanthropists, educators, social 
workers, leaders in physical training, and all persons inter- 
ested in aiding average individuals to have more efficient and 
enjoyable lives. 

The South Park Commissioners started on the present 
work in 1903, although the South Park System was created 
in 1869, for purely park purposes. It was recognized that the 
physical, moral and mental welfare of the population in the 
South Park district was "the great municipal problem of the 
day," and would "become more and more acute" as popula- 
tion increased. The people referred to were and are wage 
earners, many of them of foreign birth or direct descent, such 
as congregate in all large cities. To meet the needs as seen 
by the commissioners, elaborate plans were made for a series 
of twelve parks, ornamental and useful, in each of which the 
central feature would be "provision for gymnasium work, 
summer and winter, for men and women and boys and girls," 
offering "places where physical and mental culture and whole- 
some recreation may be enjoyed by anyone who conducts 
himself properly." Ten parks are in use; two are being 
equipped. 

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AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

During the four years 1903-8 over $6,500,000 has been 
expended. In one year the total attendance was nearly 5,500,- 
000, of which 2,278,000 were users of outdoor gymnasiums 
and playgrounds. 

It is certain that few cities could duplicate Chicago's work 
on such a comprehensive scale, and it is fortunate that not 
very many cities require such extensive provision for their 
population, but the elements of the system can be applied in 
any city or town ; every city and town has need to do so. 
Therefore the South Park System and experiences are of 
general interest. 

A comprehensive survey was presented in a report printed 
in "American Gymnasia," by Secretary Henry S. Curtis of the 
Playground Association of America, in which he said : 

No one can see the new system of parks and playgrounds 
in Chicago without a feeling of admiration and wonder at this 
magnificent civic enterprise. Taking all in all and considering 
the magnificence with which it is planned, the great number 
and variety of new features which have been introduced, and 
the rapidity with which it has been accomplished, this seems 
to me one of the most remarkable undertakings that has been 
carried through by any commonwealth. 

The South Park Commissioners, appointed by the judges 
of the circuit court, and thus independent of politics, have 
always been men of the highest ability and integrity. The 
actual supervision of the parks and playgrounds has been in 
the hands of Mr. J. Frank Foster, a man of tireless energy and 
unusual ability, for the past twenty-seven years. He has had 
the same freedom in making appointments and discharges 
that a man has in his own private business. South Park is 
a separate taxing body and levies a tax of two mills on South 
Chicago for the support of this park system, so that it is 
independent of the city both in its officers and its funds. It 
gets its appropriations directly from the state. It has a sepa- 
rate police force, a separate water system and a separate elec- 
tric light plant. This form of organization has doubtless 
added to the efficiency of the system, yet the new South Park 
System remains a work of almost inexplicable genius. 

A little more than two years ago (1903) it received 
$4,000,000 for small parks and playgrounds. Since that time 

-13 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

it has received $2,500,000 additional, West Parks has received 
$3,000,000, and North Parks $500,000, making $10,000,000 in 
all. This increase of $6,000,000 over the original appropria- 
tion seems to show that Chicago believes in her new system, 
and is ready to tax herself for its support and increase. 

One of the first features to strike the eye of the visitor 
is that this park playground has the beauty of the park and 
the utility of the playground at the same time. It is in fact 
a playground for all ages and sexes, and yet so beautiful that 
it seems like an oasis in the coal grimed desert of South Chi- 
cago. Each of them is surrounded by a high iron fence, but 
even now the fence is so far concealed by trees, flowers and 
shrubs that it can scarcely be seen from the inside, and soon 
it will entirely disappear. On entering one is first impressed 
by the athletic field, where baseball and tennis are played dur- 
ing the summer, football and tennis in the fall, and skating 
and tobogganing are enjoyed in winter. The water is sprayed 
on with a hose, so that the ice is frozen as soon as the ther- 
mometer drops one or two degrees below the freezing point. 
As these parks are in crowded sections the ice is literally 
covered with skaters. A slide is erected at one edge for to- 
bogganing. The shelter house on one side is closed in and 
heated for the skaters and coasters. 

A second notable feature is the athletic field and gym- 
nasium for men. This is also surrounded, as are each of the 
features of the playground, by a high fence of sharp iron pick- 
ets. This field is surrounded by what they claim is the best 
running track in the world and which is certainly among the 
best. The outdoor gymnasium is large and complete, being 
furnished with every detail of outdoor gymnasium equipment. 
There is a separate place for each field event, such as putting 
the shot, the high and broad jump, pole vaulting, etc. 

Not far from this is the outdoor gymnasium for women 
and girls, which is similarly equipped but smaller, and with 
more features intended for play rather than systematic exer- 
cise. 

A fourth feature is the playground for small children, also 
surrounded with a high iron fence, and equipped with all the 
more improved forms of playground apparatus. In the center 
is a good sized wading pool. Running nearly around this is 

214 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 



■» JS^ST 




Showing the general arrangement of the various features in Armour 
Square, one of the recreation centers in the South Park System, Chicago. 

a concrete sand bin often as much as 150 feet in length and 
15 feet in width. It is covered with an awning. Around this 
on a concrete platform runs a concrete seat for the mothers. 
This is also about 150 feet in length. I was told that it was 
nearly filled during the summer months with mothers who 
come to put their little children in the sand while they sit on 
the bench and sew, or read or watch the children. 

A fifth outdoor feature is the outdoor swimming-pool. 
This is the most popular feature of the whole playground 
during the summer months. It is a concrete pool a little less 
than half an acre in size and ranging from three to eight feet 
in depth. It is surrounded by a beach of white sand in which 
the bathers burrow and bask as they do on the sea-shore. 
Around this are some two or three hundred bathing booths. 
The gateway into the pool is through a shower house con- 
taining some ten or fifteen showers, through which everyone 
is required to pass in going into the pool. Just outside are 
the waiting benches where about 200 people are usually col- 



215 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

lected during the middle of the day waiting for an opportunity 
to go into the pool. Each group of bathers is given one hour, 
and then, at the sound of the gong, they leave the pool and 
another set of bathers take possession of it. The park fur- 
nishes bathing-suits, towels and soap. It is open four days a 
week for men and two days for women. The pool is lighted 
by electric lights and is open until 9 130 every evening. The 
attendance ranges between 500 and 1,500 daily. 

The most notable and distinctive feature of these new 
parks, however, is the field house. These field houses were 
built at the cost of about $90,000 apiece. The material used 
in nine out of ten buildings is concrete and the roofs are green 
mottled tiles. The approach is by a broad flight of steps 
extending almost the whole length of the building. On 
entering one is struck by the magnificent color scheme and 
the wonderful harmonies of the reds, browns, greens and 
blues and other colors which have been used in the decoration. 
The broad entrance hall contains a circular rack of potted 
plants which enlivens the interior and reminds one that he 
is in a park. At one side of the entrance is a restaurant or 
lunch room at which such small refreshments as soups, sand- 
wiches, coffee, ice cream and pie are served. All of these 
viands are sold at cost. Five-cent dish of ice cream, which 
is made by the park department, is said to be the best ice 
cream in Chicago and is certainly delicious. So excellent is 
this simple lunch room that many working people in the 
vicinity are now going there for their lunches in place of going 
to other restaurants. The settlement workers say that they 
are having a strong influence against the saloons ; that the 
people find it a pleasant place to come and sit down and have 
a cup of coffee or a dish of ice cream, and that the attractive 
surroundings give it advantages over saloons. 

On the other side of the entrance, in a number of build- 
ings is a branch of the Chicago public library. All of these 
libraries are used to the fullest extent. 

At one end of the building is a gymnasium for men. This 
is completely equipped with the best modern apparatus, so 
arranged that the apparatus goes up on pulkys to the ceil- 
ing, thus leaving a clear floor for games of basket ball, indoor 
baseball, etc. Just off from this are the best steel lockers 

216 



: 




*&£3. 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

which can be had, five or six shower baths, and a plunge pool 
usually about 15 to 20 feet in length. 

At the other end of the building there is exactly the same 
equipment for women. 

Sometimes on the ground, but more often on the second 
floor, is a large auditorium with movable chairs which is used 
for public lectures or public meetings of any kind, or for 
dances or social gatherings. The South Parks System is 
offering to the people a clean, attractive, well lighted hall 
which may be used for any neighborhood purpose where the 
best influences prevail. They have already done much to 
lessen the use of the surrounding dance halls, and it is hoped 
that they will soon be able to close many of them. Off from 
the auditorium are four or five club rooms. 

A notable feature about the use of the new parks, and 
especially the field houses, is that the ones in the better sec- 
tions of the city are most used. In Hamilton Park which is 
surrounded by a professional and business population of men 
who are supposed to earn from two to five thousand dollars 
a year, all of the features of the field house are used almost 
to their full capacity. 

The keeping of this system is fully up to the level of the 
plan itself. Every part of it is faultlessly clean. Every piece 
of apparatus is tested every morning before the children are 
allowed in. During the summer time there are from fourteen 
to twenty attendants in every one of the playground parks. 
There are three life savers at the swimming pools. There is 
one who has charge of the shower-bath house and several 
attendants at the bathing booths themselves. There are three 
janitors, and a force of three or four men who mark out the 
running tracks, tennis courts, care for the approaches, etc. 
There is a manager in charge of the building. 

Gymnasium instructors from May to November have 
charge of the outdoor gymnasium and fields, and from No- 
vember until May they have charge of the indoor gym- 
nasiums. The hours are from 2 to 9.30 in summer and from 
3.30 to 9.30 in winter. All of these instructors are high type 
men and women, most of them being college graduates. 
They are receiving, at present, $1100 a year. Every part of 

217 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

the playground is open until 9.30 at night. On Sundays there 
is a special director who is an assistant to the regular athletic 
director and who takes charge of the work on that day. 

On the whole the impression which is left from the visit 
is one of wonder that any system with so many new and 
progressive features could have sprung into existence in such 
a brief time. 



The following from a report by E. B. De Groot, director 
of gymnastics and athletics, including the playgrounds, indi- 
cates the scope of the work done in that department : 

With ample space for action, the problem of selecting the 
outdoor equipment had reference only to the best arrange- 
ment of such apparatus as might be selected to carry out a 
definite plan of activities. 

The psychological, sociological and physiological factors 
involved in the play interests of a group of sixteen-year-old 
boys differ from the interests of a group of seven-year-old 
boys, and the interests of a group of fourteen-year-old girls 
differ from both. Separate and distinct gymnasiums, there- 
fore, with apparatus of the character, sizes and heights 
adapted to these group interests were planned and installed. 

Apparatus for the outdoor gymnasiums was designed and 
constructed with special reference to the maximum of endur- 
ance and exposure to weather conditions. 

It is the plan to conduct out-of-door work from 'May 1st 
to November 1st. Much of this work is informal and undi- 
rected except that the gymnasiums are under the supervision 
of the instructors at all times. In addition to the informal 
and undirected work, formal class work in free exercise, appa- 
ratus work, games and athletic events are conducted after- 
noons and evenings at stated hours. 

Emphasis is placed upon the organization of track ath- 
letic teams, the holding of dual, triangular and inter-park 
meets, arranged and conducted with reference to group inter- 
ests. 

"Invitation" athletic meets of suitable character are con- 
ducted among the girls. 

The guiding principle in conducting all out-of-door work 

218 




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AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

is to involve great numbers, to organize, along the lines of 
simplicity, large groups for interesting and beneficial gym- 
nastic and athletic activities. 

The value of the gymnasium and playground as agen- 
cies with which to combat the tendencies toward social and 
physical degeneration, which inevitably accompany city life, 
has been emphasized by many eminent pedagogues, scientists 
and sociologists. Our public schools are first in combating 
and delaying the effect of these tendencies. But the valuable 
physical, mental and social training given by the public school 
ends with the vast majority of children when they are still in 
their most plastic stages of development. Their school and 
playtime is cut short because of the necessity for seeking 
work in office, factory or shop, there to become a cog in our 
complex industrial life. The park gymnasiums may, and do, 
at this time furnish the training needed in the children's mus- 
cular and neural development ; and with the gymnasium con- 
ducted with reference to the sociological factors involved it 
may be claimed that this work is a valuable adjunct to the 
public school system. 

There is evidence on every hand that the new small parks 
and squares are factors of great value in the solution of the 
problem of "how to make city life less detrimental to the 
physical, mental and moral welfare of the masses." 




219 



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Arrangement of Playgraund No. i, Los Angeles, California.. Size 293 
by 300 feet. Used by 53,000 individuals in a year. 



220 



PART SIX 
Miscellaneous Information. 



He who breathes best lives best. — Robert J. 
Roberts. 

Attractiveness should be combined with useful- 
ness in order to obtain the best moral results of the 
public playground. — From report of Playground 
Committee, St. Paul, Minn. 

In a play center the children are made to respect 
others' rights, to assume the responsibility of keeping 
the grounds in order and caring for the apparatus 
and in a hundred ways are taught the lessons that 
many of our citizens would do well to learn, as our 
court records show. Then do these results "justify 
the expenditures of large sums of money." — Chil- 
dren's Playground League Report, Rochester, N. Y. 

221 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

COUNTRY AND VILLAGE ORGANIZED 
RECREATION. 

Showing Children and Others Outside Cities How 
and Why to Play and Exercise — Social Effects — 
Making Rural People Content With Improved Con- 
ditions. 

Largely through the initiative of Myron T. Scudder, prin- 
cipal of the State Normal School, New Paltz, N. Y., the idea 
of great all-family open-air festivals for pure recreation, 
play, athletics and social gathering, for people of the country 
districts, has had its first worthy exemplification in America. 
Radiating from that school, the inspiration for outdoor sports 
has found a ready field and a response from the people of all 
ages. Once a year since 1906 a Field Day and Play Festival 
has been held at which there were formal games and contests 
of all sorts for children and older folks who might care to take 
part. There were quieter forms of recreation for the others. 
A social spirit has been cultivated and the people from widely 
scattered villages in Ulster County meet with visitors from 
elsewhere in a new and desirable relationship. 

The idea of showing children and others outside the large 
towns and cities how to take rational exercise, how to play, 
may seem to the uninitiated fully as folfysome as the old idea 
of supplying Newcastle with more coal. Most people who do 
not know better imagine that the country boy and girl do next 
to nothing else but play ; that country children are admirably 
supplied with both inclination and means for all necessary 
play and physical activiity. On this point let Mr. Scudder 
speak, as follows : — 

By Myron T. Scudder. 

Organized play in the country districts is of such great 
importance that the attention of people may well be directed 
to it. A contented population is absolutely essential to the 
welfare of the nation, not alone because it produces food and 

222 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

materials for clothing. It is far and above the most important 
source of the nation's manhood and character. A nation to 
become noble and powerful must keep close to the soil, and 
further, a nation develops power in proportion as its people 
remain in contented prosperity and in large numbers on its 
farms. It is vastly important that everything be done to in- 
fuse new life and new enthusiasm into the country districts. 
The dominant question in the rural mind should not be, "How 
can I get away?" but "How can I make conditions such that 
I shall want to stay?" 

In order to discuss intelligently the value of playgrounds 
in rural districts we must see the playground as a social in- 
stitution and in its proper setting; we must realize the social 
needs to which organized and supervised play is to minister. 
To most people the play of children may seem to consist 
chiefly of certain childish activities whereby health and pleas- 
ure are promoted, but in this discussion we wish to keep con- 
stantly in view the fact that the importance of play in the 
country is not so much to promote health as to develop social 
instincts, to introduce another powerful centripetal factor into 
country life which will tend to counteract the expulsive or 
centrifugal features alluded to, which have been so actively 
depopulating our rural districts. 

At first thought it might seem that country children al- 
ready have plenty of play. * * * They do not play much, 
and if they do not play much they do not play enough. Their 
repertoire of games is surprisingly small and inadequate, a 
statement which can be substantiated by statistics recently 
gleaned. There is no end of work to be done and play is con- 
sidered a waste of time except in case of very young children. 
The same is true of country people toward athletics in gen- 
eral. There are plenty of ways of developing muscle without 
fooling with such matters. We are frequently met by the ob- 
jection on the part of parents and school officers that children 
are not sent to school to play or to take part in athletics. 

The case of the village boy may be said to be particularly 
bad ; comparatively little work to do, and unless he has op- 
portunities outside of school for athletics and play, is likely 
to pass much of his time in inane idleness, or in activities that 
are far from wholesome. "Satan finds some mischief still," 
etc. This may have something to do with bringing about a 

223 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

situation characterized in the epigram : "Man made the city, 
God made the country, but the Devil made the little country 
village." 

Left to themselves country districts will do little or noth- 
ing toward accomplishing a change. Initiative must come 
from outside. An important question is, what outside influ- 
ences may be brought to bear on the situation? Best avail- 
able outside agencies to be considered are: I, private philan- 
thropic effort; 2, efforts emanating from a powerful institu- 
tion like a country college, a normal school, a high school, or 
the Y. M. C. A. " 

The possibilities of promoting the playground movement 
through the agency of some institution, is shown by work 
done by the State Normal School, New Paltz, N. Y. The nor- 
mal school is located in a village of iooo inhabitants — prosper- 
ous farming section. The school faculty conceived the idea of 
holding occasional Saturday sessions — called conferences — 
in neighboring country schools. In an informal way these 
conferences soon developed into a great power. Teachers, 
parents and children were invited to attend and bring lunches. 
Local granges were always represented by some influential 
members. At one session an athletic league was organized, 
and set into active operation "to foster all forms of clean ath- 
letics among country school children, to teach them and their 
teachers outdoor and indoor games, and to bring schools of 
the league (Ulster County Country Schools) together at least 
once a year in a field day and play picnic." 

The scheme of class or group athletics is one of the most 
valuable features of the work attempted for two reasons : 
First, however, surprising as it may seem, country boys are as 
a rule, physically undeveloped or unevenly developed, and in 
most communities very few have shown themselves able to 
make the required standards. They, therefore, are likely to 
become discouraged and quit. But they are easily attracted 
and their interest held by the group athletic system, in which 
the average of an entire class or group is taken in chinning, 
jumping and dashing without any regard to standards, and 
schools may compete at any time of the year with one another, 
though miles apart, and never coming in actual contact. Thus 
it forms a sort of training school for the heavier events. 

224 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Second: The record for jumping is submitted in the fall, 
for chinning (an exercise which may be held in the school- 
room) in winter, and running in the spring. Thus interest 
in athletics may be spread through the year and the enthusi- 
asm of the teacher and children, yes, and of the community, 
too, tided over successfully from field day to field day. * * * 

A few words in conclusion. The playground, if it can be 
widely developed, will prove to be an uplifting social force of 
extraordinary power and vitality. It is a modern successor 
to those mighty festivals which is past ages have been such 
a potent factor in the evolution of humanity. Wherever it 
goes it will make people love their country homes more, it 
will brighten farm and village life, it will broaden minds, 
quicken sympathies and develop patriotism. Its effect on 
country schools will be little short of marvelous. William 
Winter once remarked that "Civilization succeeds when it pro- 
duces communities that are governed by justice, dignified 
by intelligence, and adorned by refinement." Organized ac- 
tivities of the sort described in this chapter certainly promote 
these qualities and interpose a most effectual barrier to the 
advance of any malign force which now or hereafter may men- 
ace the welfare of our rural districts. In other words, the play- 
ground movement in the country will co-operate powerfully 
in producing communities "that are governed by justice, dig- 
nified by intelligence, and adorned by refinement." 

Note. — A quite complete account of "The Field Day and 
Play Picnic for Country Children" is contained in a pam- 
phlet with that title, noted among the publications listed at 
the end of this book, page 268.) 



"Life in the open gave us Lexington, Concord and 
Bunker Hill, and life in the open must make good 
the assurance that there they will remain forever." 



225 



CHAPTER XXX. 

GAMES FOR COUNTRY USE. 

By Myron T. Scudder. 

We want country people as well as city people to learn 
to play, and adults as well as children., but they need help. It 
is my intention to keep on rewriting the description of games 
until a repertoire of say 50 games is secured, suitable from 
the point of equipment and adapability for country schools 
and village playgrounds. The art of describing things so that 
they may be readily understood by the uninformed is a very 
difficult one, but we have tried to throw our rewritten de- 
scription into what school people would call pedagogical 
form : that is, a form that may be easily learned and that 
when learned will give one a practical acquaintance with all 
details that are necessary for actual practice. 

The rewriting has been done with the assistance of Miss 
Anna M. Morgan, director of physical training. To get the 
work into the hands of the country teachers and others, the 
descriptions have been printed in local newspapers, in leaflets 
and in other ways given wide circulation to reach the esti- 
mated number of 40.000, mostly farmers and farmers' people. 
The two games of Prisoner's Base and Captain's Ball were 
prepared among the first. Other specimens are printed in the 
following pages : 

Captain's Ball. 

Captain's Ball is a game which requires skill in running, 
jumping and throwing, and calls for quick perception, quick 
reaction, time, and prompt, decisive action. It is intensely 
interesting and exciting. It may be played indoors as well as 
outdoors. 

The only apparatus needed is a ball. A basket ball is 
best, but a playground ball will do very well, that is, a ball of 
the size of a baseball but lighter and softer. If neither of these 
is at hand or can be afforded, a ball made of burlap or canvas 
will do. shaped over a large pumpkin and tightly stuffed with 
hay or excelsior, with a stone or block inside to give it weight. 

226 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

The game would not be very interesting with fewer than 
12 players. From 18 to 24 players make a lively game. The 
game can be adjusted to accommodate even 30 or 40 players. 
The diagrams show how the play area is adjusted for a larger 
or smaller number of players. (See page 230.) 

THE GROUNDS AND PLAYERS' POSITIONS.— 
The grounds or play area should approximate in size a tennis 
court, say 60 feet long by 30 feet wide. Divide this area into 
two equal parts as indicated in the diagram. At about the 
center of each half draw a circle, say 3 feet in diameter. These 
are for the captains. Grouped about each circle as shown in 
the diagram are spaces 3 feet square. These are for the base- 
men. The circles and squares should be very clearly marked. 

OFFICIALS. — The officials of the game are (a) an 
umpire, (b) a scorer and time keeper. 

The umpire tosses up the ball whenever it becomes neces- 
sary to put it into play, that is, at the beginning of the game, 
or after a number of scores have been made, or when the ball 
is held by two players. 

He calls all fouls, and in case of a foul he designates the 
baseman who shall have the ball for a free throw. 

He calls time whenever necessary, and decides as to viola- 
tion of rules. 

THE PLAYERS. — We will proceed to describe the game 
in which there are 20 players engaged, that is, 10 players on a 
side. 

The game is played in two innings or halves, of 10 or 15 
minutes each, as may be agreed upon by the captains. 

Observe diagram No. 1 carefully. Note that each side 
has (a) one "captain," (b) five "basemen," (c) four "runners" 
or "guards." 

CAPTAINS AND BASEMEN.— The captain and base- 
men must remain in their respective bases or boxes. They 
may jump upwards to catch the ball, but otherwise at least 
one foot must always be within the base. With one foot on 
the ground within the base, a player may step out with the 
other and reach as far as possible to catch or field a ball. But 
should a baseman or captain step entirely out of his base it 
would constitute a foul. 

227 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

RUNNERS OR GUARDS.— The runners operate en- 
tirely within the territory of their opponents. They try, of 
course, to prevent the ball from getting to a baseman or to the 
captain, and one runner should always be stationed near the 
captain to cover or guard him. 

But beside their function as guards they must also try to 
get the ball and throw it across the line to one of their own 
men. 

In no case may runners step over the dividing line, or into 
one of the boxes. Should they step over with even one foot 
it constitutes a foul. 

It is well to have the number of runners fewer by two 
than the number of basemen, including the captain. That is, 
if there are six basemen including the captain, let there be 
four runners. This makes the game much livelier, as the run- 
ners must be very active to prevent the ball from getting into 
the hands of the basemen. If there were as many runners as 
basemen, each baseman would be covered and it would be 
almost impossible to score. 

TO START THE GAME.— The umpire tosses up the 
ball between two of the runners (marked 7 A and 7B in Dia- 
gram No. 1). Observe the positions of the other runners. 
They are "covering" the captain and the nearest basemen. 
When the ball is tossed up, 7 A and 7B by jumping try to catch 
it and throw the ball across the line to a baseman or to knock 
it back towards one of their fellow runners. Suppose 7 A gets 
the ball. He throws it to one of the basemen on his side, say 
2A, or clear over the heads of the others to 4A, and the latter 
as he gets it tries to throw it to the captain ; or, if the captain 
is too closely guarded, to a fellow baseman. In either case, 
if the ball is caught, the side has scored. After a number of 
points, say three, have been made by passing from baseman 
to baseman, or after the ball has been caught by the captain, 
the ball goes to the umpire for a toss-up in the center as in 
the beginning. 

Runners must not run with the ball, but if they wish to 
get a more advantageous position from which to throw the 
ball, they may run and keep bouncing the ball as they do so, 
but are allowed to bounce it only three times. 

Neither runners nor basemen may hold the ball more than 
three seconds ; they must put the ball into play at once. 

228 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

When the ball goes out of bounds it is put in play by the 
runner nearest the place where it went over the line. 

A player may claim a ball as his, only when he has both 
hands on it. When the ball is held or when there is doubt as 
to which player first had both hands on the ball, the umpire 
should toss it up between them. 

The attention of the umpire may be called to a violation 
of rules only by the captains. If a captain wishes to address 
the umpire, he raises his hand and the umpire goes to him or 
calls time. Unless time is called, the captain may not step 
out of his box under penalty of fouling. 

SCORING. — Should the ball pass, either on the fly or by 
bounding or rolling, from a baseman to a baseman, both being 
on the same side of course, one point is scored; from a base- 
man to the captain, two points are scored ; from the captain to 
a baseman and then to the captain again, three points are 
scored ; that is, for every additional baseman who handles the 
ball on its way to the captain, one additional point is scored. 
Perhaps the following formulas will help to an under- 
standing of the scoring of points : 

B means Baseman. C means Captain. 
A ball passing from 

B to B scores one point; 
B to C scores two points ; 
B to B to B scores two points. 
C to B to C scores three points ; 
B to B to C scores three points; 
B to B to B to B scores three points ; 
B to B to B to C scores four points. 
It is important to remember that no score is made when 
a runner throws the ball to a captain or a baseman. 

FOULS. — A foul is made by (a) undue roughness, (b) 
leaving bases before time is called, (c) running with the ball, 
(d) kicking the ball, (e) snatching or batting the ball from a 
player's hand, (f) holding the ball more than three seconds, 
(g) bouncing the ball more than three times in succession, 
(h) runners stepping inside the bases or across dividing line 
with even one foot. 

PENALTY FOR FOULING.— When a player makes a 
foul, one of the following penalties may be decided upon : 

229 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

i. The ball is given by the umpire to a baseman of the 
opposite side and this baseman has a free throw to his captain 
or to a fellow baseman. The penalized side have the privilege 
of guarding the captain and basemen. 

2. Instead of giving a free throw., one point may be given 
to the opposite side. 

MODIFICATIONS.— i. In the toss-up at the beginning 
all runners may line up as in a football scrimmage. When 
the ball descends they struggle for its possession and in the 
scrimmage may cross the center line, but must return to their 
respective sides before the ball may be thrown by the one who 
has succeeded in getting it. 

2. In the second half of practice games the basemen and 
runners may change places, i. e., the runners become basemen, 
and the basemen, runners. 

3. There may be as many runners as basemen on each 
side instead of two less, or one less. 




Captain's Ball. (See page 225.) 
Diagram I, arrangement for 20 players. 
Diagram II, arrangement for 14 players. 



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Shuttle Relay Race. 
(See page 231.) 



Basket Ball Throw. 
(See page 232.) 



23O 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Single Relay Race. 

In a single relay race any number may constitute a team. 
Should the number exceed 30 or more, the players may be 
arranged in three or more equal teams. 

One end of the running course may be marked by fence 
posts, trees, etc. Equally distant from each post or tree, say 
20 yards, scratch on the ground a starting line. Back of each 
starting line, a competing team lines up, its members standing 
one behind the other. 

The start is given by three signals : 

1. "On your marks" (one foot forward on the starting 
line). 

2. "Get ready" (poise forward). 

3. "Go." 

At the signal "Go" the first runner or leader of each line 
runs foward to the opposite end of the course, touches or runs 
around the tree, post or whatever marks the course, and re- 
turns to No. 2, who, as soon as No. 1 leaves the starting line, 
steps up into position with extended hand ready to be 
"touched off," by a slap on the hand or to receive a bean bag, 
flag or handkerchief or whatever object may have been se- 
lected for the purpose. As soon as touched off No. 2 runs the 
course and No. 1 retires quickly from the running space and 
keeps out of the way of the remaining players. In like manner 
No. 2 of each team touches off No. 3, and No. 3 touches off 
No. 4, etc., until all have run. The last runners finish by 
crossing the starting lines. 

Crossing the starting line before touching off constitutes 
a foul and the runner must return to line and start again. 

Shuttle Relay Race. 

In the shuttle race an even number in each competing 
team is necessary. 

Each team divides into two equal parts, the members of 
which line up one behind the other on opposite sides of the 
court, back of starting line. (See diagram, page 230.) Lines 
are 18, 20 or 25 yards apart. Several teams may compete at 
one time, the players of each team being arranged as shown 
in the diagram. 

The start is given by the usual three signals : 

231 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

1. "On your marks" (one foot forward on the starting 
line). 

2. "Get ready" (poise forward). 
3- "Go." 

On the signal "Go" No. i of each team runs forward, 
touching off No. 2 by slapping his extended hand, or by trans- 
ferring to him the flag, or handkerchief, or whatever the object 
may be, which is to be carried back and forth across the court. 
No. i quickly gets out of the way while No. 2 dashes across 
the court to touch off No. 3. No. 3 touches off No. 4, and 
No. 4 touches off No. 5, and so on until all have been put into 
play. 

The last runner finishes by dashing forward over a given 
mark, the finish line, which may correspond to the starting 
line. 

Crossing the starting line before being touched off consti- 
tutes a foul. In a regular relay race this disqualifies the 
team. 

Basket Ball Throw. 

This game may be played by one or two individuals and 
it also lends itself to team play with any number on a side. 
Thus one school may challenge another. 

To arrange the play area or court to accommodate many 
players of all ages, proceed as follows : • 

At one end of the court have a six-foot circle or square 
box, several of them if you want, with a heavy line across 
the center. Parallel with this line, draw other straight lines 
at the following distances, 12, 15, 18, 21, 2J and 31 feet. (See 
diagram, page 230.) 

The 12, 18 and 27-foot lines are for those who are 13 years 
of age and under. The 15, 21 and 31-foot lines are for those 
who are 14 years old and upwards. 

For each throw to the 12 (or 15) foot line, one point is 
scored; the 18 (or 21 foot line, three points are scored; and 
to the 27 (or 31) foot line, five points are scored. 

The thrower toes the line drawn across the circle or box, 
and in throwing the ball, he may take a step forward, but must 
not step or fall outside the circle or box. If this is done it 
constitutes a foul. A second trial may be allowed, but fouling 
in the second trial excludes the contestant from competition. 

232 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

.HOW TO INAUGURATE A LOCAL PLAYGROUND 

MOVEMENT. 

Sources of Information — First Essentials — Meeting 
Local Conditions — No One Plan for All — Forms of 
Administration That Have Been Tried. 

First, because it is good policy to utilize those means 
which are ready and anxious to be used, any person or organ- 
ization interested in the subject should get in touch by letter 
or otherwise with the Playground Association of America, 
headquarters at New York City, where there are men and 
women and much valuable information handy for immediate 
services. 

The American Civic Association has a public recreation 
department of which Mrs. George F. French of Portland, 
Maine, is executive head, with helpful material available for 
use. This association also has a printed pamphlet entitled 
''Playgrounds," compiled by Joseph Lee, who was for sev- 
eral years at the head of its public recreation department. The 
pamphlet has information useful for initial efforts. Mr. Lee 
has put in concise form the following plan for interesting local 
authorities in playgrounds : — 

i. The first thing to do is to get the local people inter- 
ested, especially those living in the immediate vicinity. You 
ought to interest : Any local political organization ; clubs, 
whether men or women including mothers' clubs ; any child- 
helping society; anybody interested in juvenile court or anti- 
child labor ; charity organization society ; turnverein ; Y. M. 
C. A., settlements and boys' clubs; school authorities; teach- 
ers and pupils in the neighboring schools ; churches ; trade 
unions ; the neighboring property owners (the effect of the 
playground in lessening the attention of boys to neighboring 

233 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

shrubs, gardens and fruit trees would be a matter of interest 
to these) ; and the newspapers. 

2. Get people to volunteer to help the playground with 
a little money or material for apparatus, or to teach there. 

All these organizations and individuals ought to be asked, 
of course, to bring the matter to the attention of the local gov- 
ernment by speaking and writing to them and sending peti- 
tions. The school children and boys' and girls' clubs should 
be asked to circulate petitions. They will care more about the 
playground when they get it if they have to work for it. 

3. There should be a general agitation to affect the opin- 
ion of the municipality as a whole. Having an edition of a 
local paper devoted to the subject, with perhaps illustrations 
taken from playgrounds already in use, is a good way. This 
should be followed by a series of editorials, if possible, and 
letters from leading citizens. Public lectures would help to 
interest the press and the people. 

4. Prepare a statement for general circulation, citing 
leading authorities and stating the need of play and clean 
sport. Have the public library set aside in place for easy ac- 
cess some appropriate books and get others. 

5. Get the park board to set aside a good, level stretch 
of land for playground purposes and equip this with simple 
playground apparatus, first getting such as is of the greatest 
use for the greatest number of children and later adding to 
this. Starting a good playground by way of an object lesson 
is an effective way, and might be especially important if there 
were no good playgrounds already in operation near enough 
for the citizens to be familiar with them. 

6. If the park board cannot be reached, have some pub- 
lic-spirited citizen offer the use of a piece of land for a year 
or two. By that time the people will be educated far enough 
to bring about a change of mind in the park board. 

7. Do not wait until you have all the money you would 
like to spend. Start immediately on a small scale and grow 
up to your larger purpose. 

A very helpful and up-to-date publication is issued by 
the Playground Association of America, entitled "First Steps 
in Organizing Playgrounds." (See list at end of this book.) 
A summary is made of the methods adopted in several cities 

234 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

that are conducting sucessful work, including Troy, N. Y. ; 
Cleveland, O. ; New York City ; Boston ; Newark, N. J. ; Min- 
neapolis, Minn. ; Buffalo, N. Y. ; Trenton, N. J. ; Pittsburg, 
Pa.; Montclait, N. J. This pamphlet also contains a paper 
full of valuable information on the subject written by Mrs. 
Samuel Amnion, treasurer of the Pittsburg Playground Asso- 
ciation. The pamphlet was compiled by Lee F. Hanmer, Field 
Secretary of the national association. As it is easily obtain- 
able, it is unnecessary to repeat the information so well pre- 
sented in it except to reprint the introductory general state- 
ment as follows: — 

The conditions under which playgrounds may be started 
vary so greatly in different cities, that it is useless to attempt 
to fix upon any one plan that can be said to be most desirable. 
Also it is a question whether any person or committee has 
gone far enough into the subject to be in a position to recom- 
mend any set plan as the one sure to bring the best results. 

It seems therefore that the object of this article can best 
be gained by giving a brief statement of the different plans 
that have been tried, and by drawing such inferences as may 
be possible from available experience. The purpose is to fur- 
nish helpful suggestions to committees and associations that 
are planning to begin or extend public playgrounds in their 
cities. 

Forms of Administration. — The forms of administration 
that have met with some degree of success are : — 

1. Voluntary. 

a. A local society or club working through a com- 

mittee. 

b. Several societies or clubs working through a joint 

committee. 

c. A playground association made up of interested 

persons, with committees for different depart- 
ments of the work. 

2. Board of Education. 

a. A committee appointed by the Board to conduct 

summer playgrounds. 

b. A department of playgrounds and recreation cen- 

ters. 

c. A department of hygiene. 

235 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

3. Municipal. 

a. A playground commission appointed by the mayor 

or city council. 

b. The park department working through its super- 

intendent or a committee. 

c. The city council, by delegating the work to any 

city department, such as the Department of 
Health, or the Department of Public Works. 

4. Combinations. 

a. A playground commission appointed by the mayor, 

supported by both city appropriations and pri- 
vate contributions. 

b. A local playground association supported by both 

private contributions and city appropriations. 

c. A local society or club with the assistance and 

co-operation of the Board of Education or the 
city council. 
The above plans have been put into operation in different 
cities. 

We are not yet able to put a check mark against a definite 
schedule of methods and say confidently, "this is the way to 
start a playground." There are several plans, each of which 
may be good under certain conditions. 



Mr. Hanmer shows why a tangible, working plant that 
can be seen and talked about, is an excellent starting point for 
larger things, in these words : — 

"The agencies by which playgrounds are started and 
maintained are as varied as the conditions in the different 
cities. 

"In one city a woman's club has worked for three years 
trying to get the city authorities to make an appropriation 
for playgrounds. They did not start the work themselves for 
fear that they would thus establish a precedent that would 
make it difficult to get municipal support for playgrounds 
later. If they had started and successfully conducted a play- 
ground the first year that they began agitating the matter, it 
is probable that by this time the city would have been supply- 
ing the funds. They were surprised to find that this was the 
method by which the majority of playgrounds have been es- 
tablished." 

236 




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CHAPTER XXXII. 

THE THREE AGE PERIODS OF CHILD PLAY. 

"All students of play are accurate in dividing the 
play life of the child into three periods. This three- 
fold playlife requires a similar provision in play- 
grounds." 

By Joseph Lee. 

In the practical direction of play a fact of cardinal im- 
portance is that there are three age periods, each dominated 
b)^a characteristic impulse. At the beginning, dominant 
until about the age of six, is the dramatic impulse. Note for 
instance the names of the games that have survived in the 
long process of selection : London Bridge, Old Man of the 
Castle, etc. The impulse is something far deeper than that of 
mere imitation ; it is rather the instinctive tendency of the 
child to act out what he feels within him. When a girl plays 
doll she does, it is true, imitate what she has seen her mother 
do ; but the essential thing that is happening is that the mater- 
nal impulse has stirred within her and demands expression. 
Whatever guidance we give ought accordingly to be ad- 
dressed to the thing the child is trying to do as he himself 
feels it. We ought to help him to express, not to imitate. 

Second comes the age of self assertion — what I have 
ventured to call the Big Injun age. Its characteristic impulse 
remains dominant until of the age of ten or twelve, continues 
powerful, though in a subordinate capacity, for some years 
longer and lasts in a less degree through life. The first symp- 
tom of its coming is disillusionment. The boy begins to 
turn up his nose at the games of smaller children and shows 
an especial and peculiar aversion to the dramatic play that has 
characterized the preceding period. . . . The boy's love 
of mischief is another sign that the Big Injun age has arrived; 

237 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

but his tendency to do precisely the most annoying thing he 
can find — to select as his playthings the boat that he does not 
know how to manage, the gun, matches, bathroom faucets, 
the hind legs of the horse — is not as many have supposed a 
manifestation of the plain, unadulterated Spirit of Evil. It 
proceeds from the boy's desire for real life. . . . The boy 
of this age is the severest and most unimaginative critic, the 
most materialistic of philosophers, the great skeptic, and, 
therefore, the great learner of all time. 

The practical corollary of this fact, for playground pur- 
poses, is that a boy of this age in an incomplete being; a 
learner, requiring a teacher to supplement him. If you must 
choose between a playground and a play leader, the leader at 
this particular period is more important. . . . 

That the playground is the place where the boy of this 
age must find the particular sort of life and activity he craves 
seems obvious. . . . The boy's apparent love of lawbreak- 
ing is simply another illustration of the impulse of self asser- 
tion of the necessity that is upon him for engaging in bold and 
daring enterprises. . . . Some noise in the world he must 
make ; let those who care that it should be an agreeable noise 
look to it ; with that matter he will not much concern him- 
self. Do not be made to believe, whatever the evidence super- 
ficially considered seems to prove, that a boy's desire for self 
assertion is at bottom a lawless one. As between lawlessness 
and games of daring and contests, the boy is comparatively in- 
different as to which it will be with him. To the boy both 
doors are labeled "sport." It is for us, who know where the 
two doors lead, to decide which of the two shall remain open 
and which shall be closed. 

The third playground age is the age of loyalty, the time 
when boys form gangs and when, if given a fair chance, they 
will form baseball and football teams. This gang impulse is 
not, as many superficial observers suppose, an evil one ; it is 
simply a budding of the great social impulse, of the faculty of 
citizenship, and the boys' gang or team is the kindergarten of 
the citizen. 



238 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 
HISTORY OF PLAYGROUNDS IN AMERICA. 

When an attempt is made to outline the history of play- 
grounds in America, a difficulty is encountered: there must 
be a distinction as to what is meant by the term "play- 
grounds." The enlightened present-day conception does not 
accept as a proper playground one in which there was no 
supervision or systematic work. 

This definition would rule out such a playing ground as 
Boston Common and other New England commons of similar 
type that were set apart in early colonial days ; it would rule 
out either Central Park, Van Courtlandt Park in New York 
City, Washington Park in Chicago, and Fairmount Park in 
Philadelphia. These are all in one sense properly enough 
playgrounds in that they are places set apart for desirable 
recreation, mainly in the form of baseball, football, tennis, etc., 
and for simple resting or walking for children and older folks, 
where there is a chance to breath pure air, see unobstructed 
sky and feel the sun's rays. This type of playgrounds is 
usually identified with public parks, and has had a consider- 
able development during the past twenty-five years in all 
cities. They have been appropriately called "sport fields." 

The other type of playgrounds, of the sort now occupy- 
ing municipal attention, are organized, properly equipped and 
adequately supervised, as has been pointed out elsewhere, re- 
sulting in very efficient use and greater benefit to the indi- 
viduals. 

Both sorts of playgrounds are of service. The distinc- 
tion between them is made here so that the history may be 
more accurately and intelligently outlined. 

There were playing grounds of the first type in Cincin- 
nati in the late 6o's. Washington Park in Chicago, in use in 
the early 70's, contained 60 acres of land set apart for such 
forms of recreation as baseball, football and tennis. Lincoln 
Park in the same city was also in use at about that period 
and in 1895 an attempt was made to equip it in an up-to-date 

239 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

manner with apparatus for systematic work. According to 
the records of the town of Brookline, Mass., there was a vote 
of that town passed April 10, 1872, providing for the pur- 
chase of land on which should be playgrounds. A town play- 
ground eventually materialized from this action, which was 
undoubtedly the first municipal vote for such grounds in the 
Unites States. 

The beginning of the present movement that has brought 
into being in America the second type of playground, dates 
from inspiration that came from Germany to Boston in the 
late '80s. As a result the Massachusetts Emergency and Hy- 
giene Association established sand gardens for small children 
in three locations. The next year there were ten such places 
and attendants or teachers were employed. These sand gar- 
dens were quite crude and incomplete, from present stand- 
ards, consisting of little more than heaps of sand at first, but 
there was rapid progress and elaboration. Philadelphia, New 
York and other cities soon took up the idea and sand gardens 
grew in number and efficiency from that day to this. 

The next step of lasting nature was the establishment of 
fully equipped playgrounds in which was provision for not 
only the small children but for older boys and girls, and for 
men and women. The first such establishment was not 
called a playground but was the Charlesbank outdoor gym- 
nasium in Boston, opened in 1889, followed two years later 
by an addition especially for women and girls. 

At about this time a law was passed in New York, fol- 
lowing the historical agitation of Jacob A. Riis, and perfected 
a few years later, authorizing the expenditure of $1,000,000 
a year for small parks in each of which there was to be a 
playground. This law was passed in 1887. In 1894 land was 
bought under this law and in 1899 the first park was opened. 
But once having gotten the start made, New York went ahead 
rapidly and opened park after park in all the crowded and 
other sections of the city, some having fully equipped play- 
grounds and gymnasiums. Coincident with the location in 
New York of the headquarters of the Playground Association 
of America, that city has become a center of inspiration for 
the country. 

From these early institutions to about 1905, playgrounds 

240 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

multiplied slowly throughout the country and varied widely 
iii character of work undertaken and in administration. Bos- 
ton and New York maintained their lead and had more such 
places than were to be found elsewhere. The conduct of all, 
or nearly all, was in the hands of private charity or philan- 
thropic workers. 

During the last five years the impetus given by the far- 
seeing volunteer workers and private philanthropists has lead 
to municipal interest and support so that now there are play- 
grounds scattered over every section of the country. 

Note. — Detailed facts and comments concerning play- 
ground history in America may be found in the report issued 
by the United States Bureau of Education, 1903, and in the 
book by Joseph Lee, entitled ''Constructive and Preventive 
Philanthropy." 

Chronology 
of 
Modern Playground, Outdoor Gymnasium 
and Public Recreation Events in the United 
States of America. 
This information has been compiled by the editor 
of 'American Playgrounds" from numerous sources 
and is believed to be essentially accurate and com- 
plete. Corrections of possible errors and information 
of any omissions of important events will be received 
with thanks and made use of in a later edition of this 
book or in other suitable manner. 
1821 — First outdoor gymnasium ; in connection with 

Salem, Mass., Latin School. 
1825 — First outdoor playground and gymnasium with 
supervision and systematic instruction ; at 
Round Hill School, Northampton, Mass. 
1826-First public outdoor gymnasium ; in Washington 
Garden, corner of Tremont and West Sts., 
Boston, Mass. 

First college playground and outdoor gymna- 
sium; at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass. 
Appropriation by Yale College for gymnasium 
with apparatus on the college green. 
1826-8 — Outdoor gymnasium established at Williams, 
Brown and Amherst colleges. (See Amherst 
chronology, page 266.) 
Note. — The foregoing efforts had short lives but 
are interesting to mark the early recognition of the 
need for such work as a part of physical training, 
in connection with educational institutions and out- 
side. There were no further noteworthy efforts in 
this line for over 50 years (until the late '8os) except 
that in — 
1852 — First public bath house ; in New York City. 

241 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

1866 — First free public baths established by City of 
Boston. 

1876 — Floating summer baths started in New York 
City. 

1889 — First bath in a public school house; in Boston. 

1890 — First municipal bath open all the year ; in Mil- 
waukee, Wis. 
Note. — The baths in New York and Boston were 

not in connection with playgrounds or gymnasiums, 

nor was the one in Milwaukee, but were forerunners 

of public baths that are so connected at the present 

time. 

1872 — First legislative action recognizing play- 
grounds, being a vote of the town of Brook- 
line, Mass., to purchase certain land for play- 
ground purposes. 

1876 — First park playground or recreaation field; 
Washington Park, Chicago. 

1887 — State law in New York authorizing small 
parks in lower New York City, being the first 
official step toward the laws of 1895 making 
definite provision for municipal playgrounds 
in that city. 

First sand garden established in Boston, Mass. 
(Here was the real beginning of the present 
playground movement.) 

1889 — First free, equipped and supervised outdoor 
gymnasium for public use; Charlesbank, Bos- 
ton (for men and boys). 

Incorporation of Brooklyn (N. Y.) Society for 
Parks and Playgrounds ; first of its kind in 
New York state. 

1890 — First New York City playground; by Society 
for Parks and Playgrounds for Children. 

1891 — Section for women and girls added to Charles- 
bank Gymnasium, Boston. 
Incorporation of New York Society for Parks 
and Playgrounds ; pioneer organization. 
First school garden; at George Putnam 
School, Boston. 

1893 — First Providence, R. I., playground; by Union 
for Practical Progress. 

1894 — First Chicago playground with equipment of 
modern type ; Hull House. 
First Philadelphia playgrounds ; by City Park 
Association. 

First Baltimore playground, started by a Play- 
ground Association of Baltimore ; failed from 
lack of supervision ; movement revived by 
Children's Playground Association and play- 
ground opened 1897. 

1896 — University Settlement of Northwestern Uni- 
versity, Chicago, opened initial children's play- 
ground on extensive scale in that city, 
equipped with apparatus. 

First playgrounds in Pittsburg, Pa. ; by Civic 
Club, in school yards. 

1897 — First recreation pier opened; in New York 
City. 
Mulberry Bend Park, New York, dedicated. 

242 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

1898 — Outdoor Recreation League formed in New 
York City. 

First Minneapolis, Minn., playground; by Im- 
provement League, in school yard. 
First Denver, Col., playground; by Woman's 
Club, on borrowed land. 

1899 — inrst municipal playground in New York City, 
a result of the laws of 1895 ( see l ^>7 above). 

l 9 Q 2> — Creation of the South Park, Chicago, recre- 
ation center idea. 

1904 — Formation of the Department of Public Rec- 
reation of the American Civic Association, the 
first organized effort in behalf of playgrounds 
nationally. 

!905 — Opening of the first of the South Park recre- 
ation centers, Chicago. 

1906 — Play festival and field day for country chil- 
dren inaugurated at New Paltz, N. Y. 

1907 — First outdoor play festival in connection with 
modern recreation centers, at Chicago, June, 
1907, on closing day of first convention of 
Playground Association of America. 
Organization of the Playground Association 
of America, the first national organization 
solely for the promotion and systematizing of 
the movement. 

1908 — Inauguration of extension work by Univer- 
sity of Missouri Department of Physical Edu- 
cation to spread playgrounds and physical 
training to all towns and cities of the state. 
Formation of Parks and Playgrounds Associ- 
ation of the City of New York by a union of 
the Brooklyn Society for Parks and Play- 
grounds and the Metropolitan Parks Asso- 
ciation. 

Playgrounds Congress by Playground Associ- 
ation of America, New York City, Sept. 8-12. 
In Germany. 
(Whence came most of the inspiration for 
American playgrounds). 

1872 — First organized school play as a factor in 
gymnasium work. 

1874-84 — The play movement formulated and ad- 
vanced by individual workers, writers and lo- 
cal organizations. 

1891 — Organization of the Central Committee for 
the Advancement of Folk and Child Play. 

1894 — First general congress, in Berlin. 

The foregoing may be taken as a concise statement of 
initial progress — early playground history in a nutshell — but 
it is of value to know more details of past successes and fail- 
ures ; to know more of the foundation upon which the present 
successful work was built. 

The information contained in the following pages is 
taken principally from an unpublished manuscript which was 

243 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

prepared as a thesis by H. H. Buxton, in 1899. under the su- 
pervision of Luther H. Gulick, now president of the Play- 
ground Association of America and then director of the phy- 
sical training department of the International Y. M. C. A. 
Training School, at Springfield. Mass., where Mr. Buxton 
was a student. The manuscript has been preserved in the 
library of that school, by whose permission it is made use of 
in this book. 

It will be noted that the first movement was simply to 
transfer to the open air, gymnastics such as were conducted 
indoors. The early death of each independent effort in the 
right direction evidently created a wet blanket that effectu- 
ally hindered any subsequent efforts of special importance 
for half a century, or until 1887, although there were inter- 
vening evidences that the idea was alive but sleeping quietly, 
waiting for the proper conditions and the proper persons to 
permit it to awake and become a helpful energy for the peo- 
ple's physical welfare. 

Two or three other facts stand out that are of historical 
value and interest. The first inspiration for an outdoor gym- 
nasium in America took root in Xew England, from physical 
training sources. After the end of this and its contemporan- 
eous initial efforts, the next revival came directly from Ger- 
many, also took root in Xew England, and very soon led to 
the more ambitious provision for public physical welfare in 
an outdoor gymnasium of the type that has survived and been 
duplicated to the present day. 

Details presented in the following pages are as origin- 
ally prepared by the author in 1899. Supplementary data since 
that year is contained in the Chronology included in this 
chapter. Very recent developments of the movement are re- 
ferred to in several parts of "American Playgrounds." Cur- 
rent and future developments may be followed in the monthly 
publications ''The Playground" and "American Gymnasia." 



First Efforts. — In 1821 we have a record of the first gym- 
nasium of any description in America. It was in Salem. 
Mass.. at the Latin School, where this crude outdoor gymna- 
sium was started without supervision or instructor, the stu- 

244 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

dents being allowed to do any exercises that took their fancy 
upon the rude apparatus placed in the yard. 

At the Round Hill School in Northampton, Mass., a plot 
of ground was set apart for play and gymnastics in 1825, 
furnished with the German type of apparatus. Exercise was 
required of the pupils three times a week under the super- 
vision of Dr. Charles Beck, a former pupil of Jahn in Ger- 
many. 

It would appear that the first public gymnasium of any 
note in the United States was the gymnasium opened Sep- 
tember 28, 1826, under the directorship of Charles Fallen, a 
pupil of Jahn.. It was situated in the Washington Garden 
at the corner of Tremont and West Streets, Boston. The 
number of pupils increased from 200 at the start to 400 the 
first year, but in the second year there were but four pupils, 
due, it was stated, to the fact that the "novelty had ceased 
and some of the gymnasts had been caricatured in the print 
shops." 

In March, 1826, Harvard College placed apparatus in the 
college playground known as the Delta. This was the same 
year that Harvard opened its first indoor gymnasium in one 
of its dining halls. 

In September, 1826, Yale College made an appropriation 
of $300 for the clearing and preparation of grounds on the 
college green for a gymnasium with apparatus. 

In May, 1827, Williams College, and, in June of the same 
year, Brown University took similar steps. Amherst College 
started work in the same direction during the same period. 

The movement did not spread at this time and soon 
ceased almost entirely. The next period of interest came in 
the late 80s when a public outdoor gymnasium and play- 
ground for both sexes and all ages was opened on the Charles- 
bank in Boston through the efforts of the Massachusetts 
Emergency and Hygiene Association. This was the start- 
ing point of the present playground movement in America. 
The initiative came through a letter written by Dr. Marie E. 
Zakrzewska, in 1887, to the association's chairman stating 
that in Berlin there were placed in the public parks sand- 
piles in which the children dug and played. The suggestion 
was made that something of the kind might be done in Bos- 

245 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

ton. Sand piles were promptly located and the next year 
a committee was appointed to develop and enlarge the 
scheme. The next step was to get the use of school yards 
during the summer vacation period, where additional sand 
piles were placed. The second year instructors trained in 
kindergarten methods were placed in charge. 

The sand-pile work having been started so successfully, 
the Park Commissions of Boston investigated the matter and 
decided to use some of the city parks for similar purposes. 
They also fitted up the Charlesbank open air gymnasium, be- 
fore mentioned, covering ten acres of land, costing $373,916 
and for construction $305,513. At the start an instructor in 
gymnastics and athletics was employed to supervise the gym- 
nasium 450 x 150 feet. The gymnasium was enclosed in an 
iron fence, on the inside of which was "a strip of green five 
feet wide, studded here and there with bushes and trees ; in- 
side of this is a cinder running track, five laps to the mile. 
Within this the ground is fitted with gymnastic apparatus 
and places for high and broad jumping, running, pole-vault- 
ing, putting the shot, throwing fifty-six-pound weight, etc." 

New York. — The playground movement in New York 
was started, as usual in all cities, by private individuals. The 
first establishment "was located on the corner of Seventh 
Ave. and Thirty-seventh St. and was opened May 1, 1896, 
by Miss Grace Dodge. Apparatus was installed and some 
systematic work was carried on, including team games of 
baseball. In winter the grounds were flooded for skating 
and sliding." 

At about the same period the Nurses' Settlement opened 
small playgrounds on Henry St. 

The Union Settlement maintained a large playground on 
South 104th St. and others were maintained on West 37th and 
West 68th St. respectively. 

The mayor of the city was partially interested by priv- 
ate individuals in the matter of providing playgrounds and 
outdoor gymnasiums with provision for athletics, games and 
gymnastics. The Outdoor Recreation League was organized 
"to obtain recognition of the necessity for recreation and 
physical exercise as fundamental to the moral and physical 
welfare of the people ; to secure the establishment through 

246 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

the city of New York of proper and sufficient exercise in rec- 
reation places, playgrounds and open air gymnasiums for the 
people." 

The school board at a meeting June 13, 1898, voted that 
eighteen yards be "used for purposes of recreation during 
the vacation months the expenditures made necessary to be 
paid from the funds now at the disposal of the board." 

. The first superintendent of these school playgrounds was 
Seth T. Stewart, a pioneer promoter of the movement. 

In 1898 a comprehsive plan for an extensive series of 
playgrounds was prepared and adopted by the school board. 
An appropriation of $15,000 was made for the work. (The 
details are to be found printed in the regular report of 1898, 
pages 28-32.) Twenty-four playgrounds were opened during 
July and August in charge of 153 directors and assistants, 
who were called together four times during the season to 
meet the superintendent for conference and instruction, "with 
a view of securing thorough play through the following 
points : 1 — Character building ; 2 — Co-ordination of physical 
powers ; 3 — Development of physique." 

In the school buildings adjoining the playgrounds, li- 
braries and reading rooms were opened and quiet games such 
as checkers and chess were played in them. Kindergarten 
games were used by the children in the yard, gymnasium ap- 
paratus was installed and a variety of group games were 
used. 

Affiliated with the Outdoor Recreation League were 
nineteen societies in the city. The league opened August 27, 
1898, with formal dedication exercises, the Hudson Bank 
Gymnasium and playground, this being the first of its kind 
in New York City. It was situated at 53rd St. and nth Ave. 
The opening address was delivered by James E. Sullivan, 
then secretary of the American Athletic Union. Seth T. 
Stewart of the Board of Education and Charles B. Stover of 
the league were speakers. A demonstration of gymnastic 
exercises was included in the program. The grounds were 
well attended until closing exercises for the year in October, 
when prizes were awarded in cometition. 

Philadelphia. — The playground movement in Philadel- 
phia was first agitated by several societies such as the Civic 

247 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Club, the Culture Extension League, the City Park Asso- 
ciation and the College Settlement. The first meeting to con- 
sider the advisability of establishing playgrounds for chil- 
dren in the crowded districts was held in the winter of 1893 
under the auspices of the City Park Association. The mat- 
ter was kept before the public through the newspapers pre- 
ceding a large meeting May 25th, 1894, attended by leading 
citizens, editors and friends of the cause. The City Park As- 
sociation opened a playground that summer. 

June 12, 1894, the Women's Christian Temperance Union 
petitioned the board of education to keep open the public 
school playgrounds during the summer months. A similar 
petition was communicated to the board in February of the 
following year by the people who had been advocating play- 
grounds. Further efforts were made to get the board of ed- 
ucation to favor the movement. The favor was finally se- 
cured and four grounds were opened during July and August, 
1895, as an experiment. The result was favorable so that 
for the year 1897 the appropriation was increased from $1000 
to $3000, thus insuring the growth and effective of the move- 
ment. In 1898, twenty-five playgrounds were maintained 
by the board of education with aid from the Civic Club. 

Besides the school yards, different societies conducted 
playgrounds. The Culture Extension League equipped two, 
one in Dickinson Square covering about three acres, the 
equipment of which cost about $12,000. Here there were 
separate buildings for boys and girls with baths and the 
grounds contained running track, sandgarden, swings and 
other apparatus as well as space for games. The grounds 
were flooded in winter for skating and were opened all day 
until ten o'clock at night. 

In 1899 the children's new playground and day house in 
East Fairmont Park was completed. It was erected under 
the provisions of the will of Richard Smith at a cost of about 
$200,000. This building, in addition to being a play place for 
children, included provision for mothers and babies, includ- 
ing a diet kitchen and nursery with proper attendants. 

Baltimore. — To the United Women of Maryland is due 
the credit of starting the playground movement in that city 
in 1897 through inspiration that came from Boston, largely 

248 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

through an address given at Baltimore by Miss Ellen M. 
lower, chairman of the Committee on Playgrounds of the 
Massachusetts Emergency and Hygiene Association. 

Although the United Women of Maryland are credited 
with starting the Baltimore movement, there was a Play- 
ground Association of Baltimore in 1894, which began work 
with much enthusiasm. Having no competent supervisor to 
look after and direct the play of the children, the efforts 
soon failed. July 1, 1897, the Children's Playground Associa- 
tion of Baltimore, a department of the United Women of 
Maryland, opened its first playground in the grounds of the 
Eastern Temple high school. Another ground was opened 
for colored children. The following year, 1898, five play- 
grounds were opened and the work has continued to date. 

Pittsburg. — In 1896 the education department of the 
Civic Club, Pittsburg, Pa., made a successful effort to have 
opened some school yards during the summer months for 
small children. The work was supported by contributions 
from private individuals. 

Providence. — The Union for Practical Progress started 
the playground movement in Providence, R. I., in 1893, with 
the aid of the Providence Free Kindergarten Association, 
after investigating what was being done in Boston. In 1897 
the association took charge of the whole work as the union 
had ceased to exist. The school authorities granted the use 
of several grounds and rooms and Miss Helen P. Howell was 
appointed superintendent with a corp of assistants, including 
fourteen kindergarten and primary teachers. The grounds 
were opened from July 7th to September 8th with daily 
morning and afternoon sessions, except Saturday afternoons 
and Sundays. There were nine grounds opened in 1897, seven 
for small children and two for larger boys ; one fitted up with 
outdoor gymnasium apparatus quickly became very popular. 

Chicago.— It was thought originally that the complete 
chain of parks and boulevards encircling Chicago would sat- 
isfy every need of the growing population. This proved a 
mistake, and it was seen that something must be done for 
the children of the densely populated portion of this, the 
greatest city in the West. 

The mistake was due at first to the supposition that 

249 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

everybody could go to parks and spend a joyful time, if not 
every day, once a week or so. But this city is no different 
from others. Hundreds of persons never have time to visit 
the parks once a year, much less once a week. Parks or some 
such requisites must be furnished people in the thickly settled 
portions of the city. 

"In 1896, under the auspices of the University Settle- 
ment of the Northwestern University, a large and splendidly 
equipped playground was opened which would accommodate 
from three to four thousand children." The expenses for this 
work were paid by several gentlemen who desired to furnish 
an object lesson to the city. "Numerous swings, large and 
small, giant striges, seesaws, sand piles, etc., afford ample 
amusement for the children, who fairly swarm here. There 
is also a large shelter provided with plenty of benches, and 
with a retiring room. A police officer, who is a father to the 
boys, and a matron have charge of the grounds. The police 
in the neighborhood are much interested in this venture ; in 
the spring they planted six trees in the grounds," showing 
their appreciation of the work. 

In 1897, the West End District of the Associated Chari- 
ties maintained a playground in the Washington School yard, 
and in addition supported for five years near the Hull House 
a large playground in a vacant lot. 

In the spring of 1898, an appropriation of $1,000 was ob- 
tained from the city council for "temporary small parks." 
This sum was placed at the disposal of the vacation- school 
committee of the Women's Clubs. Six school yards, with 
basements and one room to be used on hot and rainy days, 
were secured from the Board of Education. The Turnverein 
was greatly interested and loaned portable gymnasium appa- 
ratus. 

Note. — The progress of the movement in Chicago to its 
present status is detailed in Chapter 28. 

Brooklyn, N. Y. — Pioneer work of value was done here 
in 1889 when the Brooklyn Society for Parks and Play- 
grounds was organized under a state law passed the preced- 
ing year authorizing the incorporation of "societies for pro- 
viding parks and playgrounds for children in the cities, 
towns and villages" of the state. Independent interests 

250 







o 

o 
H 



> 

•l-H 



^3 



o 

u 






AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

maintained a playground in City Park in 1897. The society 
later conducted three playgrounds. 

Milwaukee. — The Milwaukee City Park Commissioners 
established a playground in West Park for trial in 1897 with 
sand piles and movable apparatus. 

San Francisco. — The California Club, composed of 
women, took the initial step, in 1898, for the establishment of 
playgrounds. 

Playground Development Abroad. 

As the American playgrounds started with sand gardens 
in Boston, so the German playground movement started in 
Berlin sand gardens. Very typical of German methods is the 
systematic promotion, perhaps in a little more serious way 
than is likely to be adopted by Americans. The older Ger- 
mans seem, when viewed through American eyes, to play in 
much the same way that our young children do ; that is, they 
make a business of playing. This method may be satisfac- 
tory in Germany, although the recent and current efforts to 
introduce there more of the free play and athletic spirit found 
in England and in the United States, seems to show that the 
German leaders recognize a deficiency in their own methods. 

While the Germans are getting ideas from America and 
England, it is worth while for these two nations to make 
more use of the German method of great open air folkfests 
for many people and all people. 

There is much literature in the German language relat- 
ing to playground work. A recent translation which presents 
a history of the movement was printed in the "American 
Physical Education Review" of June, 1908. There is also a 
summary of German conditions in the report of the United 
States Commissioner of Education for 1903, which report 
has considerable material of similar nature including America 
at that period. 

French playgrounds have been developed in recent years 
and are being included now under educational guidance as 
well as in public parks. 

English playgrounds have taken on an aspect somwhat 
different than that in this country, having consisted mainly 

251 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

until very recently in space for and the promotion of ath- 
letics and sports in connection with schools of the type that 
are known in this country as private or preparatory schools ; 
also the characteristic sports at the universities. The de- 
velopment of physical training in England, especially in the 
schools and the social settlement work, have brought into ex- 
istence a considerable number of playgrounds and recreation 
centers more nearly approaching the type that is being devel- 
oped in the United States, although there as here often con- 
ducted as features of social welfare work. 

Scotland has in Glasgow a series of a dozen or fifteen 
modern playgrounds equipped with apparatus. It has been 
stated that these playgrounds were the first anywhere in the 
modern world conducted by a municipality ; that is, they were 
the first playgrounds in the modern understanding of that 
term. One defect, which is being remedied, was that the 
playgrounds did not have systematic supervision or instruc- 
tion. 

Other European governments have taken up the play- 
ground idea and are developing it in one form and another, 
including Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Denmark and 
Sweden. This is true also of Japan, which is at the present 
time conducting a systematic investigation for the purpose of 
adopting eventually a modern and complete system for the 
physical welfare of its people in all respects. 



252 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN THE PLAYGROUND. 

(Reprinted by permission of the United States 
Commissioner of Education from the report of the 
Bureau of Education, 1903, being part of a chapter in 
that report.) 

By Henry S. Curtis, Ph. D. 

A number of problems that occur in every playground 
will be treated under this head, and also a superficial glance 
at social and moral conditions in the playground will be given. 

Cleanliness. — One of the things which claim the attention 
of every playground worker is the cleanliness of the children. 
Of course no very high standard can be extracted. The child 
who comes clean in the morning will not be clean after he has 
played basketball for an hour. But there are some children 
who become so dirty when left to themselves that other chil- 
dren (especially true of girls) do not want to associate or 
play with them. Their appearance is a disfigurement to the 
playground and a bad example to the other children. A child, 
who will behave very respectably when he himself is clean, 
will tend to live up to a very different standard when he is 
filthy. Of course, dirty children can not be allowed to take 
books from the library, or play many of the games, or do in- 
dustrial work, so it follows that some standard of cleanliness 
must be insisted on. This does riot extend to excluding chil- 
dren with bare feet, in my opinion, though this has been done. 
In general, a great deal can be accomplished by putting in as 
monitors and leaders only those children who are clean, and 
let the other children know why these children were selected. 
In drills some teachers give a military inspection of the line 
and insist on some standard of neatness. Occasional praise of 
neat children and hints to those who are too careless of their 
appearance are usually sufficient, but children are sometimes 
sent home for too great negligence in this matter. 

253 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Politeness. — Politeness is another problem. A high 
standard of parlor etiquette can not be required, neither can 
the roughness of the street be tolerated. If the leader does 
not insist on politeness to herself she will not be respected, 
and if the children do not grow more polite to each other nei- 
ther can her influence be availing, nor can the playground 
furnish a very wholesome social life. There is an unquestion- 
able increase in politeness among the children frequenting 
any well-managed playground. This is due in part to the 
kindly spirit which pervades the play, and in part to the chil- 
dren learning that there is such a thing as politeness in play, 
and something of its requirements. It may seem absurd, but 
it is really true, that most of these children have never 
dreamed that politeness applied to such things as their play 
with each other. But the main source of this improvement is 
the example of the teachers, who take pains to be very polite 
in playing the games and in the general treatment of the chil- 
dren. 

Justice, waiting their turn. — One of the best effects of the 
playground movement has been the cultivating in the children 
a sense of justice. In the street might makes right. When the 
playgrounds opened, the large children did not expect to wait 
their turns with the small children at the swings or apparatus. 
They went to the head of the line, or even pulled the small 
child out of the swing. This has changed, but whether it in- 
dicates any considerable reformation or only respect for au- 
thority it is hard to tell, but the influence on the child is sure 
to be good. This respect for the rights of others is one of the 
most needful lessons for a child to learn, and the writer knows 
no better way to teach it. The method that has ordinarily 
been employed to prevent a scramble for scups, swings, see- 
saws, etc., is to line up the children and put a monitor in 
charge to give each child so many swings. This in itself is 
not always effective, as children will step out of their places 
and step up ahead of other children. To prevent this the 
children are sometimes lined up according to their size, or 
each child is given a slip with a number on it. A reliable child 
with a little instruction will manage this. Often some game 
like bean bag or buzz is started for the children who are stand- 
ing in line. 

254 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

Stealing. — Stealing is likely to occur in any playground, 
especially in the first week or two it is opened; but if the 
worker succeeds in raising a school spirit, the older children 
will soon cease to take things. 

Gangs. — The playgrounds of most cities were troubled at 
first by gangs of boys who came in for mischief. In the first 
week or so they often caused great annoyance, so that a police- 
man was stationed in every playground in New York. The 
gang problem is becoming much less acute as the system be- 
comes better organized and the workers learn better how to 
deal with them. The gang can often be conquered by turning 
them into a gymnasium or basketball team. In this they have 
the advantage over other teams in having a strong spirit of 
loyalty to each other. They will usually respect a gymnast 
who is capable and tries to help them, and they will expend 
their superfluous energy in work instead of mischief. In order 
to do this it is usually necessary for the teacher to make 
friends with the leader. By making monitors of one or two 
of the moving spirits, the whole gang is often subdued and 
very effective assistants are gained in the playground. This 
is a method that must be used with discretion, as the influence 
of such monitors on the other children is not always good. 
This same method will very often work with the troublesome 
child in general. If he can be influenced to help or if he is 
put in charge of something, he ceases to be a nuisance and 
makes a very effective assistant. After the work of a play- 
ground is well organized the home talent will generally take 
such good care of its premises that a troublesome gang will 
soon find the street a pleasanter abiding place. 

Profanity, Obscenity, and Cruelty. — All of these offenses 
will be met with in the playgrounds. There are cases of chil- 
dren who are lewd both in actions and language. There has 
been trouble in some cases from loose girls in their early teens. 
The only cure of the evil seems to be to exclude the girls. 
Playgrounds can not be made reformatories for such charac- 
ters. The influence of the teacher is divided among too many 
children, and these characters may have a bad influence over 
many. The teacher can not correct it, because these things 
will be said when she is not around. 

Playground Spirit. — To a keen observer who visits dif- 

255 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

ferent playgrounds it is soon evident that there is a different 
spirit in each. The children have a different attitude toward 
each other and toward the work and teachers in the various 
playgrounds. Some playgrounds do not seem to differ from 
the streets ; there is no loyalty. In other playgrounds you 
feel that there is an air of friendliness ; you find older children 
assisting the younger ones ; often the teacher may go away 
and the playground will take care of itself. It is the creation 
of this spirit that is the hardest task of playground teachers. 
It requires unusual qualities for one to be largely successful. 
The writer has never known but two or three such leaders of 
children. If this school spirit is analyzed it seems to me to 
resolve itself into a three-fold loyalty. It consists in loyalty 
to the leader, loyalty to the playground, and loyalty to the 
other members. In most cases one or two of these elements 
are lacking, and consequently the result is imperfect. 

Discipline. — There are not many ways of punishment 
open to the playground teacher. The main method must al- 
ways consist in having the work so well organized, the chil- 
dien so friendly, and surplus energy so well consumed that dis- 
order will not naturally occur. When it does occur, the moral 
penalty of the disapprobation of the teacher and the other 
children will then be a strong preventive. When this is not 
effective the child is excluded from teams or games or, as a 
last resort, from the playground. 

Social and Moral Influences. — As the playground has al- 
ways been regarded as something of a social settlement, it 
remains to say a few words of its social and moral forces. The 
first of these is the playground itself, in removing the chil- 
dren from the temptations of the street. There is a sugges- 
tiveness about the playground which differs from that of the 
street. The child does not naturally think of doing the same 
things. The games themselves have a great influence in over- 
coming race prejudices and cementing friendships among 
children. 

The teachers have often taken a great interest in the 
work and in the children, and their personal contact with them 
has borne fruit in a copied politeness, gentleness and justice. 



•■56 



QUOTATIONS AND EXTRACTS 



It is doubtful if a great man ever accomplished 
his life work without having reached a play inter- 
est in it. — George E. Johnson. 

The more playgrounds the fewer the hospitals, 
asylums and prisons. — Stoyan Tsanoff. 

To play in the sunlight is a child's right, and it is 
not to be cheated out of it. And when it is cheated 
of it, it is not the child but the community that 
is robbed of that besides which all its wealth is but 
tinsel and trash. For men, not money, make a coun- 
try great, and joyless children do not make good 
men. — Jacob A. Riis. 

Experience has shown that it is not desirable to 
establish playgrounds or athletic fields any faster 
than adequate supervision can be provided. Such 
supervision is the only guarantee of equal participa- 
tion by all who are entitled to it and the only 
safeguard to the tendency toward disorder, selfish 
agression of the strong upon the weak and the 
immoral influences which may make a playground 
an offence instead of a beneficient influence in the 
community. — From report of a Joint Committee to 
the Mayor of Rochester, N. Y. 

257 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 



PLACE OF PLAY IN A DEMOCRACY. 

By Luther H. Gulick. 

Play in itself is neither good or bad. To sink 
one's very soul in loyalty to the gang is in itself 
neither good or bad. The gang may be a peril to 
the city, as indeed is the case in many cities. The 
gang of boys that grow up to be the political unit, 
bent merely upon serving itself, possessing a power 
which mutual loyalty alone can give, is thereby 
enabled to exploit others for its own advantage in 
a way that is most vicious. My point is that these 
mutual relationships have an ethical effect. This 
effect may be toward evil and it may be toward 
good; but the ethical nature in itself is primarily 
related to self-control and to freedom. * * * * 

Anti-ethical play is worse than no play at all. It 
is not merely play that our cities and our children 
need. They need the kind of play that makes for 
wholesome moral and ethical life, the play that 
makes for those relationships between individuals 
that will be true to the adult ideals which belong, 
and should belong to the community. * * * 

The two great institutions that have to deal with 
children — the school and the home — rest primarily 
upon the development of the qualities of obedience. 
The playground alone affords to children the one 
great opportunity for cultivating those qualities that 
grow out of meeting others of like kind under con- 
ditions of freedom; it develops progressively, from 
babyhood on, the sense of human relationships 
which is basal to wholesome living. Thus the play- 
ground is our great ethical laboratory. * * * 

Democracy must provide not only a seat and in- 
struction for every child, in school, but also play 
and good play traditions for every child, in a play- 
ground. Without the development of these social 
instincts, without the growing of the social con- 
science — which has its roots in the early activities 
of the playground — we cannot expect adults to pos- 
sess those higher feelings which rest upon the ear- 
lier social virtues developed during childhood. The 
sandpile for the small child, the playground for the 
middle-sized child, the athletic field for the boy, 
folk dancing and social ceremonial life for the boy 
and the girl in the teens, wholesome means of social 
relationships during these periods are fundamental 
conditions without which democracy cannot con- 
tinue, because upon them rests the development of 
that self-control which is related to an apprecia- 
tion of the needs of the rest of the group and of 
the corporate conscience, which is rendered neces- 
sary by the complex interdependence of modern 
life. — From paper on "Play and Democracy." 

2 5 8 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 



PLAY AND DANCING FOR ADOLESCENTS. 

(From an article by G. Stanley Hall, in "The 
Independent.") 

Dr. Hall's well known sympathy with dancing 
and the joyfulness that modern study says is a 
necessary part of our physical training and of life 
generally, is indicated in this paper. He presents 
three views of what play really is and means : Her- 
bert Spencer says play is superfluous activity and 
the overflow of vitality, and that if vitality is defi- 
cient the child ought not to play; Gross says that 
play is practicing in childhood activities that will be 
necessary in mature years. 

Dr. Hall approves the third view — that play is re- 
hearsing activities of the race in the past and is "the 
best kind of education, because it practices powers 
of mind and body which, in our highly specialized 
civilization, would never otherwise have a chance 
to develop. Hence, in my opinion, this latter view 
contains more truth than any other, and to under- 
stand the play instinct we must know something 
of the past life of the race, and even where we do 
not understant it we must assume that we could 
do so if we knew more of the past." 

Dancing he rates as "one of the most beneficent 
groups of play activities for adolescents." "I would 
have dancing taught in every school, even if the 
school had to be opened evenings for that purpose. 
The dances chosen should be simple, rhythmic, al- 
lowing great freedom, such as the Morris dances 
now being revived in England, and sometimes the 
song and dance. We should also teach old folk and 
national dances after very careful selection from a 
wide repertory. The object aimed at should be the 
cultivation primarily of the sense of rhythm; next, 
the ease and economy of movement, for grace is only 
another term for ease. There should be great va- 
riety and poise ; balance, control, ease, presence and 
bearing, rather than posturing or feats of agilitv 
are the goal." "Another end to be aimed at in 
teaching all children to dance should be the- im- 
planting of a habit of so doing that should last on 
into maturity, not to say old age." "What we want 
first of all is more knowledge of what dancing has 
meant and can do, and I appeal to young clergymen 
and to directors of Y. M. C. A.'s to bestir and in- 
form themselves, for the time is not far distant, un- 
less I am mistaken, when they will be called upon to 
act in this matter." 

"Dancing is one of the best expressions of pure 
play and the motor needs of youth. Perhaps it is 
the most liberal of all. forms of motor education." 

Right dancing can cadence the very soul, give 
nervous poise and control, bring harmony between 
basal and finer muscles, and also between feeling and 

259 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

intellect, body and mind. It can serve both as an 
awakening and a test of intelligence, predispose the 
heart against vice, and turn the springs of character 
toward virtue." 

"Adolescence is the golden period of nascency for 
rhythm."— G. Stanley Hall in "Youth." 

WHTA IS DANCING? 
By Melvin B. Gilbert. 

''Dancing is considered by many to be a mere 
mechanical moving of the feet to music. This idea 
is false in the farthest degree. Dancing is the ex- 
pression of inward emotion, and movements become 
meaningless, mechanical and gymnastic, when not 
inspired by the promptings of the inner self. The 
general public is inclined to applaud mere difficulty, 
marvelous material execution, novelty and singular- 
ity of combinations, which have no relation to our 
passions or emotions. 

''All arts have two distinctive parts — the expres- 
sion of human passions and sentiments which con- 
stitute their foundation, and the peculiar mechan- 
ism or process of each, which gives the form, and 
of which the artist must be master. A dancer must 
know how to execute movements, steps, postures, 
etc., but if effort stops there, and if one does not 
seek to speak to the soul as well as to the eyes, he 
will remain a simple gymnast or acrobat. 

"The peculiarity of dancing is to evoke souls by 
means of bodies ; to create the spiritual and the ideal 
by means of the material and the real. With these 
qualities, dancing to be esthetic must have finish in 
its execution, vivacity, rapidity, voluptuous grace, 
eloquence of coporal gesture, and attitudes that 
speak to the senses. In theory, we might, perhaps, 
lay down the axiom that dancers are emblems and 
not persons ; they are poets, expressing themselves 
without the apparatus of the writer, without words, 
without rhyme, without conventional signs in black 
and white. Sentiment should never be outdone by 
virtuosity, the essential should never be eclipsed by 
the accessory." 

"Dancing is, next to eating and drinking or feast- 
ing, the most primitive form of enjoyment." 

RECREATION FOR GIRLS IN CITIES. 

By Jane Addams. 

The discovery of the labor power of young girls 
was to our age like the discovery of a new natural 
resource. In utilizing it thus ruthlessly we are not 
only in danger of quenching the divine fire of youth, 
but we are imperiling our civilization itself, if in the 
movement of its most pronounced materialism we 
dry up the very sources of beauty, of variety, of 
suggestion, which these charming creatures have 
always given to the world. To fail to provide for 
the recreation of young girls is not only to deprive 
all of them of their natural form of expression, and 

260 



AMERICAN PLA YGRO UNDS 

to subject some of them to the overwhelming temp- 
tation of illicit and soul destroying pleasures, but 
it furthermore pushes society back into dreariness ; 
into a scepticism of life's value — that shadow which 
looks around the corner for most of us — it deprives 
us of the warmth and reassurance which we so 
sorely need and to which we are justly entitled. 

PLAYGROUND AND KINDERGARTEN 
METHODS. 

(From 1907 Report of Frank E. Parlin, Sup't. of 
Schools, Quincy, Mass.) 

The kindergarten is a very desirable part of a 
public school system, if it be a real childgarden, a 
place where children are cultivated and allowed to 
develop according to natural laws. But if, by arti- 
ficial methods and forced processes, the children are 
to be taught unnatural sentiment and make believe, 
are given no opportunity for originality and spon- 
taneity and are deprived of sunlight and open air, 
the kindergarten could be discouraged as being de- 
cidedly detrimental to the physical and mental well- 
fare of children. * * * 

Many of the plays and songs used (in kinder- 
gartens and schools) have been devised by adults 
who teach the ways of the animal world or the occu- 
pations and virtues of men, and are both in thought 
and in manner of playing wholly unnatural to chil- 
dren. There is a great difference between this play- 
ing play and the genuine spontaneous play of chil- 
dren in which, after observing the acts of men and 
animals, they extemporize their own means and in- 
vent their own methods. In imitation the children 
demand the free exercise of their own imagination. 
The games they most enjoy are those probably in- 
vented by children and have been played by children 
for centuries. 

The time will come when the kindergarten will 
be out of doors, when the kindergartner will con- 
duct children to the best places to observe the birds, 
the brooks, the flowers and the industries of men and 
will intelligently answer as many of their questions 
as she can. Or she will take them to the playground 
to watch them in their play and teach them the old 
games of childhood. * * * 

One thing seems certain, if the school room would 
divide the time equally with the playground, the co- 
partnership would be unusually profitable to the 
children of the primary grades. The director of 
physical training should be competent to map out 
and supervise the work in the elementary schools. 
It certainly is to be hoped that the time is near at 
hand when our numerous parks and playgrounds 
shall be utilized as they ought to be in the education 
of children and when the play instinct shall be called 
in to do its proper part in their motive development 
and training. 

261 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF RIGHT GAMES 
AND RIGHT SUPERVISION. 

By Dudley A. Sargent. 

"The prominent part which so-called recreative 
games are now playing leads us to ask just what 
recreation really is. Etymologically considered, the 
word "creation" means a forming and "re-creation" 
means forming anew. When applied to the body, the 
word "creation" means a forming; and "re-creation" 
vital energies. Therefore recreation is, or ought to 
be, not a pastime entered upon for the sake of the 
pleasure which it affords, but an act of duty under- 
taken for the sake of the subsequent power which 
it generates and the subsequent profit which it in- 
sures. Recreation may be defined as that which, 
with the least expenditure of time, renders the ex- 
hausted energies best fitted to resume their work. 
Most games are played for the fun, the enjoyment, 
or recuperative power there is supposed to be in 
them ; but if they are played so long and hard 
as to become exhausting, they are certainly not 
recreative. * * * 

"In the popular mind baseball, football and row- 
ing are included under the general term 'athletics/ 
but for educational purposes it is better to group 
baseball and football with cricket, tennis, golf and 
lacrosse, under the head of games. As these games 
are played at present * * * there is an element want- 
ing, especially for children or hard-worked students, 
that is found in another class of games which may 
be well termed 'plays.' The plays include the dif- 
ferent forms of tag, with which we are all familiar, 
the impromptu races and contests of one kind and 
another, and the gymnastic games, which the in- 
telligent instructor knows how to sandwich in be- 
tween the different periods of routine work to relieve 
the set exercises of their monotony, or to dispel the 
gloom that usually accompanies a dark, stormy day. 
One of the first essentials of such games is that 
they shall appear to the pupil to be spontaneous, 
though all the details must be carefully arranged be- 
forehand for the instructor. 

"It is of the utmost importance that the right 
games should be introduced at the right time and 
that they should be checked in case they become 
too violent, overheating or exciting. The school- 
teacher should take the position of leader and 
advisor rather than of preceptor. Of course he 
should be perfectly familiar with all the games 
taught and should be the willing interpreter of all 
the rules and regulations governing them. He 
should encourage the weak and timid and restrain 
those who are too strong and overbearing. He 
should be the umpire in all disputes and the ready 
exponent of justice and fair play. Occasionally he 
should start impromptu contests in running, jump- 
ing, and some of the lighter forms of gymnastics 

262 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

and athletics. He should be the first to recognize 
merit when he sees it and to call attention to the 
fine points and particular excellence of any one's 
performance. On the other hand, he should be 
the first to frown upon anything that looks like 
cheating or dishonesty and should immediately visit 
his disapproval upon any young athlete who gains 
an advantage by any kind of unfairness. 

"By supervising and conducting games in this way 
the teacher not only has an admirable opportunity to 
study the character of his pupils and thus acquire 
a knowledge which will prove valuable in the school- 
room but also a chance to instill into their minds 
in connection with their athletic sports the im- 
portance of such qualities as promptness, obedience, 
alertness, energy, perseverance and justice." — (From 
"Physical Education.") 

BEGINNINGS OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS. 
By Robert W. DeForrest. 

I do not think that any movement for the im- 
provement of social conditions should proceed unless 
private philanthropy has first marked the way. I 
believe that private philanthropy should always be 
relied upon to make the experiment and that the 
public, that is the tax payers, should not be called 
upon to support any movement, however promising, 
for the improvement of social conditions until that 
movement has passed beyond the line of experiment 
and has become a success. 

Speaking historically, that is the way in which 
every movement of our government for the public 
good for social improvement has commenced. It 
seems hard to realize with our public schools and 
our public school system that there ever was in this 
country a condition in which private philanthropy 
had to be relied upon to give children a primary 
education. And so it may in view of succeeding 
generations seem very strange that there ever was 
a time in this country when private philanthropy 
had to be relied upon to take the initiative in getting 
public playgrounds. It is an enlargement of the 
sphere of governmental action. That has been its 
history : first experiment by private enterprise fol- 
lowed up by governmental initiative and govern- 
mental support afterwards. * * * One word as to 
the municipal management of playgrounds. * * * I 
am inclined to think that conditioned as our Amer- 
ican city governments are on short terms of office, 
without always having the wisest and best men in 
control, that some kind of partnership between 
private enterprise and our cities may turn out to 
be a very wise kind of arrangement. 



263 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

A BOY LEARNS CITIZENSHIP IN GROUP 
GAMES. 

By Joseph Lee. 

The group games are. in my opinion, the best 
school of citizenship that exists. In playing these 
games the boy is not going through the forms of 
citizenship — learning parliamentary law, raising 
points of order and moving the previous question 
— he is being initiated into its essence, actually and 
in a very vivid way participating in the thing itself. 

To the boy playing football, the losing himself in 
the consciousness of the team, utterly subordinating 
his individual aims to the common purpose, is not a 
matter of self-sacrifice but of self-fulfillment, the 
coming into his birthright, the satisfying of his 
human necessity of socialization, of becoming a part 
of a social or political whole. What is being born 
in that boy is the social man — man the politician, man 
the citizen, and it is my belief that in most instances 
this political or social man will get himself thor- 
oughly and sucessfully born in no other way. 

If in making public provisions for the education 
of our children, — in our anxious search of the 
heavens and the earth and the water under the 
earth for all possible subjects and materials with 
which to arouse and to enlighten them, — we still 
fail to supply the one opportunity which of all others 
the child's nature imperiously calls for. the one 
thing which in any case, if not in one form then in 
another, he is most certainly going to have, we can- 
not expect that our system shall be a success. If our 
public schools are for the -making of citizens, then 
we must turn the force of the spirit of citizenship, 
as it actually exists in the boy's soul today, into its 
legitimate channel of making a citizen of him instead 
of allowing it to run partly to waste, and partly to 
turning him into a tough or criminal. 

PLAYGROUNDS AND THE PHYSICAL 
TRAINING PROFESSION. 

What has the playground movement to do with 
the physical training profession? 

This question indicates that to some physical di- 
rectors the present tendencies to extend the care 
for the physical welfare of the people, young and 
old, beyond the limits of the gymnasium has no spe- 
cial interest, unless the interest be antagonistic. The 
play movement is not opposed to the fundamental 
physical development that is still to be best secured 
in a properly conducted gymnasium. If there is any 
confliction, it is more than apt to be the fault of 
short-sighted, partly-informed gymnasium instruc- 
tors. To be sure, some enthusiastic promoters of 
play and games claim fully as much for these ele- 
ments of physical training as they can prove, but 
that is the characteristic exaggeration of youth. 
Time will modify and force each element into its 
proper place. Gymnastics, athletics, games, play, 

264 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

dancing, walking, and open-air activities of various 
sorts are certainly parts of the work for members 
of the physical training profession. The instructor 
who does not think so, or, still worse, who says the 
present development is wrong, needs to wake up. 

The present growth in the conception of physical 
training in this country is bringing us to the ground 
long occupied by Europeans who class under "phy- 
sical education" items that the profession of physical 
training instructors, in a more narrow application 
of the term, have been content to ignore. To be 
sure, it is the mark of the educated — the scientific — 
profession that it is conservative and slow to alter 
its ideas, but there comes a time when readjustments 
have to be made to meet conditions. 

The play movement now conspicuous did not gain 
its present popularity by any help of the physical 
training profession, and not by much help from in- 
dividuals in the profession, but came rather from 
social and educational working-students. Neverthe- 
less play always belonged to physical training and 
belongs to it now. Playgrounds are the laboratories 
of the physical training profession, quite as much as 
the gymnasiums and the athletic fields. To allow 
them to be used by others and not by those who 
should be best fitted to guide and direct their use- 
fulness, would be neglecting a tremendous oppor- 
tunity. (From "American Gymnasia" editorial.) 

GROWN-UP FOLKS NEED THE PLAY SPIRIT. 

(From an address by J. J. Kelso, Toronto, Can- 
ada.) 

"In the older civilizations, in Europe, they have 
their national play festivals and the people de- 
vote themselves heart and soul to this enjoy- 
ment, and are not too proud or too dignified to 
laugh, and have a good time. In this advanced 
age and country you know it is almost a crime 
to laugh, and one has to be very dignified and 
grave, notwithstanding that doctors tell us that 
a good laugh is better than medicine any time. 
In the older civilizations they give more atten- 
tion to the matter of play than we do here. You 
have heard about Merry Old England with its 
village green and Maypole, and interesting stor- 
ies of olden time festitvities, although I am 
afraid these are disappearing in the England of 
to-day. In the United States the only place so 
far that has developed the festival idea to any 
extent is New Orleans, where the people have 
the delightful mardigras lasting for three days, 
but looked forward to in anticipation for months. 
We (in Toronto) made an attempt at something 
of that kind some years ago. We had a sum- 
mer carnival — four days of solid enjoyment. 
That was a dismal failure, and why? Not be- 
cause we did not want it to be a success or that 
it was not a good thing, but because we were 

265 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 

not educated up to the idea of enjoyment, of 
going in for a pleasant sociable time, free from 
business cares and anxiety. 

"Nowadays we are getting to iook on the sad 
side of life altogether too much, and we ought 
to keep constantly in mind that man needs di- 
version, needs to forget the cares and worries of 
business life, and if we cannot be happy our- 
selves, if we are too busy making money to take 
time to enjoy life, let us at least provide the 
facilities for boys and girls to be young while 
they are young. The whole tendency of modern 
times seems to be to make prematurely old folks 
of our boys and girls." 

EARLY EFFORTS AT AMHERST COLLEGE. 

(From "Athletic Chronology of Amherst Col- 
lege," by Paul C. Phillips, M. D., associate 
professor of physical education.) 

The following outline of very early steps to- 
wards physical training at Amherst College is 
interesting because it is possible to trace here the 
progress of the movement, which started out of 
doors and afterwards went into a building, the 
Barrett gymnasium, and quite recently has re- 
versed its steps and is going to the open air 
more and more. This outline applies to college 
physical training without special thought of play- 
grounds in any sense, but the work done and 
doing is all in the same line. 

1826 — A special holiday was granted the stu- 
dents to clear up College Grove as a place 
for outdoor exercises. 

1827 — Gymnastic Society formed for the erection 
and support of gymnastic apparatus in the 
grove; Joseph Howard, '27, first president. 

1827 — Bath house, 10x12, erected in southwest 
corner of the grove for shower baths ; water 
conducted thither by troughs from college 
well. 

1828 — Faculty discontinued plans for bowling al- 
leys, "as they would be noisy; though inno- 
cent in themselves might be perverted." 

1828 — Occasional addresses on physical culture 
delivered before the Gymnastic Society. 

1828-45 — Gymnastic Society- equipped with 
swings, a circular swing, a rude horse of 
wood and spring boards in the grove; jump- 
ing, running, round ball, loggerheads, quoits 
and association football indulged in. 

1845 — Running track cleared in grove; wicket in- 
troduced; parallel bars used. 

1852 — Swinging rings used in grove. 

1858 — Wrestling, boxing, fencing, kicking and 
weight lifting added to exercises in grove. 

1859 — Amherst ball club organized. 

266 



AMERICAN PLAYGROUNDS 



i860 — Barrett gymnasium completed. 
1862 — Dr. Edward Hitchcock chosen professor 
of hygiene and physical education. 

STATE EXTENSION PLAN. 

In pursuance of a policy for the rational co- 
ordination and development of comprehensive phy- 
sical training upon an educational basis inaugurated 
at the University of Missouri seven years ago under 
the direction of Prof. Clark W. Hetherington, the 
department of physical education began in 1907 an 
extension policy intended to extend the benefits of 
physical training to the towns and cities of the state 
of Missouri. Prof. Hetherington conducted an ener- 
getic campaign first for purity of American college 
athletics and later for the same purification through- 
out the country, his work being based upon a con- 
structive social policy, broad and deep as well as 
wide and inclusive. 

Following this general policy has come the present 
playground extension work which has begun to bear 
fruit the present summer (1908). In charge of this 
state work is a social economist, Prof. Royal L. 
Melendy. Organized work has been begun in some 
thirty towns and villages in Missouri, usually under 
the supervision of the local school boards, most 
of them agreeing to manage play or vacation schools 
during the summer months, provided the funds for 
maintenance were secured by contribution. The 
school boards also agreed that if the work was suc- 
cessful, to incorporate it into the educational system 
with provision for its maintenance from public 
funds. The necessary backing for this season's 
work was secured in a dozen communities where 
play schools are being conducted. 

The whole work so far is experimental. "Missouri 
must be shown the educational value of a necessity 
for the play school in the small city and rural village. 
The fact that the plan was adopted by the unanimous 
vote of 29 of 31 school boards, that instead of meet- 
ing opposition from the people it was generally re- 
ceived as a plan designed to meet a long felt need 
was a surprise and an encouragement to increase the 
facilities for university extension in this direction." 

Such work by a university presents one additional 
phase of the conception of what may be done for 
the advancement of the physical welfare of the 
people by those who know and are willing to do 
the initiatory work. 



267 



A LIST OF AVAILABLE BOOKS. 

containing information on play and games, phy- 
sical training and other features having relation 
to playgrounds and outdoor gymnasium activi- 
ties. 

The aim in compiling this short list has been 
to name books and other publications that can 
be secured, rather than a long bibliography of 
inaccessible publications. All the publications 
here mentioned can be supplied by American 
Gymnasia Co., Boston, Mass., at prices indicated. 

For a more complete bibliography of material 
relating to play as well as to playgrounds and 
kindred interests, see — 

"Playgrounds," a pamphlet compiled by Jo- 
seph Lee, published by American Civic Associ- 
ation. (10 cents.) 

"Education by Games and Play," G. E. John- 
son. (90 cents.) 

General. 

Growth and Education, John M. Tyler. — 
Relation of exercise, play, games, etc., to 
life of the race $1.50 

The Human Mechanism, Hough and Sedg- 
wick. — Physiology, hygiene, sanitation 
of mankind 2.00 

Physical Education, Dudley A. Sargent. — 
Survey of conditions now and in the 
future 1.50 

Sexual Hygiene (male), Winfield S. Hall. — 
Practical book for teachers and young 
men 1.00 

Physical Education by Muscular Exercise, 
Luther H. Gulick. — Why and wherefore 
of sports, games and exercise 75 

Psychological, Pedagogical and Religious 
Aspect of Group Games, Luther H. 
Gulick (nearly out of print) 25 

Play and Playgrounds, Joseph Lee. — A 
pamphlet of practical value for commit- 
tees and instructors 10 

Educational Value of Children's Play- 
grounds, S. V. Tsanoff 

Constructive and Preventive Philanthropy, 
Joseph Lee. — The relative phases of 
playgrounds to other means 1.00 

American Municipal Progress, Charles 
Zueblin. — Has a chapter (19) relating to 
playgrounds 1.25 

Play of Animals, Karl Gross 1.50 

Play of Man, Karl Gross 1.50 

The two books by Gross are stand- 
ards of their type, being treatises on 
play in various aspects. 

Education of Man, Froebel 1.50 

Education by Plays and Games, G. E. John- 
son. — Has sections on both theory and 
practical application 90 

268 



Youth, G. Stanley Hall 1.50 

The Field Day and Play Picnic for Country 
Children, Myron T. Scudder. — Descrip- 
tion of events, how to work up interest, 

sample programs, lists of games 12 

First Steps in Organizing Playgrounds, Lee 
F. Hanmer, with description of methods 
that have been used to advantage 12 

Dancing. 

Old English Games and Exercises, Kirk. — 

For children 60 

Maypole Possibilities and Dances, Lincoln. — 
Figure marches, American and English 
country and folk dances, the Maypole 
exercises, etc 1.00 

Folk Games and Dances, Mari R. Hofer. — 

With music and description 75 

Children's Old and New Singing Games, 

Hofer .50 

Old Danish Folk Dances, Hanson and Gold- 
smith. — Description, 75c; music, $2.70; 
both 3.45 

Old Swedish Folk Dances, Bergquist. — De- 
scription, 75c; music, $2.30; both 3.05 

Swedish Weaving Dance, Bolin. — Descrip- 
tion and music 25 

Swedish Folk Dances, Clapp and Bjerstedt. 

Description, 75c; music, $1.50; both.... 2.25 

Song Plays, Bolin. — Music and description, 

for children 75 

Folk Dances and Games, Crawford 1.50 

Dance Songs of the Nations, by Oscar Duryea. 
— Ten fancy dances with proper music and 
detailed description 2.00 

Folk Dance Music, Burchenal and Cramp- 
ton, selected from various nations; 
paper covers, $1.50; cloth covers 2.00 

Marching Calisthenics and Fancy Steps, 
Lundgren. — For school and gymnasium 
use 50 

Rythmical Balance Exercises, Perrin and 

Starks. — Fancy steps with description.. 1.50 

Play "Exercises and Marching, including 

fancy steps for school children, Nissen .25 

Dancing, its relation to educational and so- 
cial life, Dodworth 1.50 

Dancing, Wilson. — Practical directions 

mainly relating to social dancing 50 

Grammar of the Art of Dancing, Zorn, 
translated by A. J. Sheafe from the Ger- 
man. (Special prospectus free) 10.00 

Games. 

Gymnastic Games Classified, Arnold. — 

Paper cover, 70c; cloth 1.00 

150 Gymnastic Games, B. N. S. of G 1. 10 

Gymnastic Games (200), Grey 70 

Popular Gymnastics, Betz 75 

Education by Plays and Games, Johnson... .90 

269 



Educational Gymnastic Play, Johnson and 

Colby. — For children 70 

Gymnastic Stories and Play, Stoneroad. — 

For children 75 

Play — Its Value, with 50 games, Lamkin... .66 

Graded Games and Rythmic Exercises, 
Marion B. Newton. — Games and plays 
for school room, playground and home 
use by children 1.25 

Athletics. 

Practical Track and Feild Athletics, Graham and 

Clark 1.00 

Track and Field Athletics, Harpers 1.50 

Popular Gymnastics, Betz. — Adapted to play- 
ground use 75 

Handbook of the Public Schools Athletic 
League. — Contains rules for events, conduct 
of meets, rules for tests, hints on training. . . .12 

Marching. 

Manual of Marching, Cornell 30 

Infantry Drill Regulations, U. S. Army. — Paper 

cover, .30 ; cloth 50 

Tactics of the Individual, Arnold 25 

Gymnastic Tactics, Betz 75 

Gymnasium Apparatus Exercises. 

Parallel Bars, Dimmock 50 

Horizontal Bar, Dimmock 50 

Vaulting Horse, Campbell 50 

1076 Gymnastic Exercises, Harvey 40 

Horizontal Bar, Butterworth 1.00 

Code Book of Exercises, Puritz 60 

German-American System, W. A. Stecher. — 
Sections on all forms of physical training, 
illustrated liberally 2.60 

Class Drills, Exercises, Etc. 

Pyramids and Postures, A. B. Wegener 15 

1000 Dumb Bell, Indian Club and Bar Exer- 
cises, Harvey 40 

Wand Exercises, Chesterton 50 

Light Gymnastics, W. G. Anderson 1.50 

Pyramids, Harvey 40 

Club Swinging, W. J. Schatz 1.00 

How to Tumble. Butterworth 1.00 

Drills and Marches, Lundgren 50 

Miscellaneous. 

Fencing with the Foil, Heintz. — Class and indi- 
vidual exercises with catechism 25 

Foil and Sabre, Rondell 3.50 

Skating, Badminton 2.50 

The Art of Swimming, R. F. Nelligan 50 

Any of the publications listed sent on receipt 
of price quoted. Information regarding any title 
sent on request ; table of contents can be supplied in 
some cases ; by 

American Gymnasia Co., Boston, Mass. 

270 



OGT 23 WU8 



